The New Me
by TwilightObsessed522
Summary: Bella and Edward were best friends and both were unpopluar, until they got to high school. Edward became part of the popular crowd, while Bella became an outcast. After being hurt and bullied, Bella had enough and moved to Florida to be with her mom. 6 years go by, and now Bella is back in Forks. What will happen? AH Rated M for language, some lemons, and other stuff. BxE
1. The Prologue

**A/N: Hi everyone! I'm back with a new story already. Before I let you guys get to the story, there are a few things I'd like to say.**

**First of all, I have a goal I would like to try and achieve. I would like to try and get at least 5 reviews for each chapter in this story. Let's see if we can make that happen! ;)**

**Secondly, I'm going to try and make my chapters for this story longer than they were in my last one. This means that I'll be spending more time writing them, so I won't be updating every single day again. I was thinking maybe 1 chapter per week. If that schedule changes, I'll be sure to let you know.**

**Lastly, I am more than happy to answer any questions you have about my stories, so feel free to PM me if you want.**

**Also, I'd like to give a shout out to my best FF friend, Anam. Anam I look forward to hearing from you again. I really appreciated all of your support for my last story. :)**

**Anyways, I'll let you get to the story now. I hope you all enjoy it. ;)**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns **_**Twilight**_**.**

**The New Me**

**Chapter 1- The Prologue**

**BPOV**

I was currently standing in the middle of the airport in Seattle while looking for my father. After about 30 minutes of not seeing him anywhere, I called his cell phone. After it rang a few times, he finally answered.

_"Hi, Bells!"_

"Hi, Dad. Um, where are you? I've been looking all over the airport for you."

_"You didn't get my message?"_

"No."

_"Oh, sorry about that then. I left you a message earlier to let you know that I wasn't able to come and get you, so I sent Jacob Black to get you instead. Just look for a giant Quileute and you should find him pretty easily."_

"Okay, I'll do that. I'll see you soon, Dad. Love you."

_"I love you too, Bells. Drive safe."_

After we both hung up, I began my search for a giant Quileute. I searched for about 10 minutes before I spotted him. My dad was right. Jacob got really big.

He was clearly scanning the crowd for me, so I walked up behind him, cleared my throat, and said, "Looking for someone?"

Jacob turned around and his eyes widened when he saw me. "Bella? Is that really you?"

I smiled at him. "It's really me."

He pulled me into a hug and said, "Wow, Bella. Look at you. You look...hot. What are they feeding you down in Florida?" he joked.

"Thanks. I could say the same to you." I grabbed one of his arms. "Well, hello biceps. You do know that steroids are bad for you right?" I joked with him.

Jacob scoffed. "Steroids? I don't need that shit. This is all natural baby."

I laughed. "That's good to know. So are we going to stay here all day, or are we going to Forks?"

"Well, first, we have to get your luggage, and then we can go."

The two of us walked to the luggage station and got my things. Then we walked to the car and put them away. I climbed into the passenger seat while Jacob got into the driver's seat. And soon we were on our way to Forks.

"So," Jacob began, "How does it feel to be going back to Forks after all these years?"

I sighed. "Honestly? It feels a bit overwhelming. I left to get away from all of the bullying and hurt I had to endure, and leaving was good for me. I was able to make a few friends, get healthy, and be happy. Coming back here means that I have to face the past that I had purposely left behind. It kind of scares me."

"There's nothing to be scared about, Bella. You are a completely different person from who were back then. You're no longer the fat, shy, and nerdy girl. You are now a beautiful woman with sexy curves and lots of confidence. You should be proud of yourself and your accomplishments. Don't let anyone bring you down. Alright?" said Jacob.

I smiled at Jacob. "You're right. From here on out, I'm not going to let anyone hurt me in any way. There's just one thing I'm really worried about."

"And, what's that?" asked Jacob.

"I'm worried about what will happen when I see Edward Cullen again after being gone for 6 years."

**A/N: So how was it? Instead of going back and forth between the past and present, I think I'll put a flashback in each chapter that explains a bit about the past.**

**Please leave a review. I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas. :)**

**Thanks for reviewing, favoriting, and following.**

**The next chapter will be up next week. I'm not sure what day though. I will eventually figure out a posting schedule.**

**Also, I hear that Robert Pattinson's movie The Rover opens up in the UK this week. If you go see it, let me know what you thought about it. I saw it when it came out in June, and it was really good. :)**


	2. The Car Ride

**A/N: Hi, everyone! I am super happy! One of my goals for this story was to get at least 5 reviews for each chapter, and you gave me twice that amount for the first one. Thank you so much. And because I am so happy, I have decided to give you all an early update. :)**

**I also want to thank everyone who added this story to their Favorites and for following this story.**

**A guest reviewer asked me if Bella was going to sing or dance in this fic, and I'm sorry to say 'no' to the dancing. I know absolutely nothing about dancing, so I'm not even going to try and describe something like that. As for the singing, I can definitely make that happen in a later chapter. ;)**

**For the guest reviewer that said they hoped that 'Bella would be able to balance her good looks with her grades', you don't have to worry about that because Bella left Forks right after her Sophmore year of high school ended. She spent her last two years of high school and 4 years of college in Florida, and then she returned to Forks. That's why I said she hadn't seen Edward in 6 years at the end of the last chapter.**

**My friend Anam wants me to update at least twice a week. Because I love to make people happy, I am going to try to do just that, but since I don't have an outline and am writing as I go, I'm not making any promises, but I'll do my best.**

**I'll let you get to the story now.**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns **_**Twilight.**_

**Chapter 2- The Car Ride**

**BPOV**

"Why would you be worried about seeing Edward? Weren't you guys like, best friends or something?" asked Jake.

"We used to be, but not anymore." I said quietly as I turned to look out the window.

Jake glanced at me for a second before returning his gaze to the road. "What happened?" he asked gently. I thought about what I would tell him and I must have taken a moment too long because then he said, "Nevermind, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to, it's none of my business."

I looked at him. "I'd like to tell you, but I'm not really ready to talk about it just yet. Besides, I'm not even sure where to begin." I let out a deep breath. "Can we talk about something else?"

Jake nodded his head and gave me a small smile. "Sure, what do you want to talk about?"

"I don't know...why don't we talk about you for bit?" I suggested. "What have you been up to since I left?"

Jake shrugged. "Oh, you know, just the usual stuff. School, work, hanging out with the guys. That's pretty much it." I smirked at him. "What?" he said when he saw my face.

"No girlfriend?" I asked.

Jake turned his head and looked at me with a smirk of his own. "Why do you wanna know? You interested?"

I laughed. "No. I'm just curious."

He placed one of his hands over his heart with a look of mock pain on his face. "Ouch. Rejection really stings." he joked. "But to answer your question, no, I don't have a girlfriend."

"Really?" I asked in surprise. "That's a shock."

"Why is it such a shock?"

"Um, I don't know...you're just really nice and funny, and..."

"And what?" he asked.

I blushed. "Cute." I replied.

He gave me another one of his smiles and said, "You think I'm cute, huh?" he teased. "I think 'hot' would be a better word, but I'll take what I can get." That made us both laugh.

Once we calmed ourselves, I asked, "How much longer until we get to Forks?"

He looked at the clock on the dashboard and then took a moment to work out the answer in his head. "Um, about an hour, I think. Why, you in a hurry?"

"No, I just wanted to know. Besides, why would I be in a hurry? I'm having a lot of fun with you."

"Yeah, same here. It's a shame we never hung out much when we were younger. We should definitely hang out more now that you're back." said Jake.

"Yeah, we should." I agreed happily. The prospect of hanging out with Jake definitely sounded like fun, and I had a feeling it would be just the thing to take my mind off of all the other stuff I'd be dealing with soon.

The rest of the ride to Forks was fun. Jake and I talked for a bit, teased each other about stuff, and even sang along to the radio, before we eventually pulled up in front of my father's house.

"Well, we're here." announced Jake as he got out of the car.

I got out and just stood there for a moment, looking at the house that held both good and bad memories for me, before making my way to the front door. It felt strange to just walk right in since I hadn't lived there for a while, but I was also excited to see my dad again.

So, I took a deep breath, and knocked on the door.

**A/N: Once again, thank you to everyone who added this story to their Favorites, and for reviewing.**

**Let's continue to work on my goal. I'd like at least 5 reviews for each chapter. :)**

**See you soon!**


	3. Welcome Home

**A/N: Thanks again for all of the reviews. I love getting them. :)**

**Thank you to everyone who has favorited, and is following this story.**

**There will be an important note at the bottom, so please read it.**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns **_**Twilight**_**.**

**Chapter 3- Welcome Home**

**BPOV**

I heard some shuffling on the other side of the door before it opened to reveal my father standing there with a huge smile on his face.

With a smile of my own, I threw my arms around him in a hug. "Hi, Dad."

He hugged me back and held me for a moment. "It's so good to have you back, Bells. I've really missed having you here."

I hugged him even tighter. "I know. I've missed you too, Dad." I said softly. We released each other and we both stepped back. During our little reunion, Jake had gotten my things out of the car and carried them up to the porch.

My dad looked over to where Jake was standing and said, "Thanks for picking Bella up from the airport for me. I really appreciate it."

"It was no problem, Charlie. Bella is pretty fun to hang out with." he said with a grin.

"You're pretty fun to hang out with too, Jake. We'll definitely have to do it again." I said with a smile.

"You can count on it. Do you need help bringing your stuff inside?"

"No, I can handle it, but thanks for offering." I replied.

"Well, I better get going then. It was good to see you again, Bella." He turned towards my dad. "See you later, Charlie." And then he bounded off the porch and got back into his car. He waved at us and then took off.

"Well," began Charlie, "why don't we head inside, and I'll let you get settled in. If you want to take a short nap, go ahead, but I have a surprise for you, but it won't arrive until later, so I need you to be awake in a few hours."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "What kind of surprise?" I asked. I didn't really like surprises, and my dad knew that, so I was feeling kind of wary.

My dad smiled at me and said, "Well, it wouldn't be a surprise if I told you, now would it? Don't worry, Bells. It's nothing bad, I promise. In fact, I think you're going to love it."

A gave him a small smile. "Okay, if you say so."

"I do. Now, go unpack, and do whatever else you have to. I'm just going to grab a beer and watch some tv."

That made me laugh. Typical Charlie. I guess my dad hasn't really changed all that much. "I'll let you get to it then." I grabbed my bags and made my way up the stairs to my old bedroom.

Charlie never had it redecorated, so it still looked the same way it had when I was a teenager. I made a mental note to have it redecorated once I got used to being back.

Since most of my things weren't going to arrive for a few days, it only took about 30 minutes for me to put away the things I had brought with me. Once I was finished, I noticed how tired I was, so I decided to sleep for a little bit.

I woke up a few hours later, made myself presentable, and made my way downstairs to watch some tv with my dad before my 'surprise' arrived.

About 20 minutes later, the doorbell rang.

"That would be your surprise. Why don't you go answer that?" suggested my dad.

I was really nervous. There weren't many people in Forks that I had been close to while growing up. In fact, aside from the my dad's friends and their kids from the rez, the Cullen's were the only other people I ever really associated with.

To make matters worse, I never told Charlie that I wasn't friends with Edward anymore. He just would've asked too many questions that I wouldn't want to answer. So the possibility of it being Edward on the otherside of the door was huge. However, if it was him, then I'd more than likely slam the door in his face and then lock myself in my room.

But the only way to know for sure who was on the otherside of the door, was to open it.

I got up, walked over to the door, turned the doorknob, and opened it up to find myself face to face with...

**A/N: I know it's a bit short, but I didn't have a lot of time to write today. **

**Just so all of you know, I'm going to explain what happened between Bella and Edward, starting in the next chapter, but I'm debating on whether or not to just explain it all at once, or to explain it in little flashbacks throughout multiple chapters. What do you think would be better? Leave me your answer in a review please. Thanks.**

**Don't forget my goal! I want at least 5 reviews for this chapter. :)**

**See you soon!**


	4. The Room Mate

**A/N: Hi, everyone. Thank you all so much for reviewing the last chapter and leaving me your thoughts.**

**I really hate to disappoint people, but I decided to give you a little bit more of Bella's background before I got to her issues with Edward. **

**And since more people wanted me to explain the problem with Edward all at once, I'm going to explain it in the next chapter. Not this one, but the next one. Sorry to disappoint you. However, I'll try not to make you wait too long for it.**

**Anyways, I left you all with a bit of a cliffhanger, so I bet you want to find out who was at the door, so I'm gonna let you get to it. :)**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns **_**Twilight**_**.**

**Chapter 4 - The Room Mate**

**BPOV**

"SURPRISE!"

I was surprised alright. In fact, I think I was kind of in shock. You know how sometimes a person gets so stunned by something, it seems like their brains stop working for a moment?

That's exactly how I feel right now.

"Well? Are you going to just stand there like an idiot, or are you going to invite me in?"

That snapped me out of my daze and a huge smile spread across my face. "Rose? What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I'll explain everything once you let me inside." she said as she gave me a quick hug.

"Come on in." I said as I stepped aside to let her through. "I can give you a tour of the house later, but right now I want to know how it is that you're here right now. Come on, lets go into the living room and sit down while I take a few moments to adjust to this surprise." I walked into the room and sat down on the sofa as she did the same.

Let me explain how I know Rose.

I first met Rosalie Hale, when I moved to Florida to live with my mom and my stepdad Phil. She was one of the first people I met there, and we just got along really well and she quickly took over the role as my best friend, despite the fact that we were complete opposites.

Where she was tall, blonde, and slender, I was short, brunette, and overweight. Our personalities were different too. I was quiet, shy, and laid back, while Rose was bold, outgoing, and full of attitude. I guess you can say we kind of balanced each other out.

Rose also came from a different background than me. She comes from a super wealthy family. Unfortunately, her parents are more interested in money and the finer things in life, and are hardly ever around. Because of this, she was basically allowed to do whatever she wanted, so she spent more time with me, my mom, and Phil, than she did at her own home.

Over time, she helped me drop the weight and taught me a little about fashion, and helped me gain confidence in myself, things I never thought would be possible. She even became my room mate in college. I owe her for so much. I'm really grateful I met her.

"Are you done adjusting yet?" asked Rose.

"Huh? Oh, yeah." I said as I snapped out of my thoughts. I heard a chuckle come from my left.

My dad was still sitting in his recliner with a beer in his hand and a smile on his face.

"So, how do you like your surprise?" he asked.

"I love it. Really, I do. But what is going on?" I asked. I looked back at Rose. "Don't get me wrong, I'm _really_ happy you're here, but I'm kind of confused."

"Chief, do you want to start, or shall I?"

"You can call me Charlie, Rose. Sure, I'll start." He took a sip of beer before starting. "Well, when you told me you would be moving back home, I figured it might be a little bit difficult to adjust to being back here, so I thought, why not have your friend Rose come and stay with us for a bit to make things easier. I contacted Rose, and she liked the idea, but she had plans to see her parents in New York." He took another sip of beer. "Your turn, Rose."

"Thanks Charlie. Well, I flew up to New York to spend some time with my parents, only to find out that they had gone to Italy without telling me and that they wouldn't be back for 2 months. So, I called your dad back, and told him that my plans had changed and I was coming to Forks. And now, here I am!" Rose explained.

Charlie got up out of his chair and stretched. "Alright, I'm gonna go to bed now. I have an early shift down at the station, so goodnight. Rose, it was nice to meet you in person. Bells, try to get some sleep tonight." And he turned and walked up the stairs to his bedroom and closed the door.

"Hey, Rose?" I asked.

"Yeah?"

"I hope you don't mind sharing a bed, because its either that, or the floor."

"We can share the bed. Its not like we've never done it before. Just try not to kick me. Okay?" she said with a smile.

"Okay." I said as I smiled back.

We both went out to Rose's car to get some of her bags that had her clothes in them and brought them up to my room. After we changed into our pajamas, we got into bed and fell asleep.

The next morning we got up, took turns showering, got dressed, and made our way down to the kitchen to make ourselves some breakfast. Rose wasn't much of a cook, so I made pancakes, toast, sausage, eggs, and bacon. It was so good, we devoured that stuff as if it were our last meal. As soon as our stomachs settled, we left the house, and walked out to my old truck.

I had to laugh when Rose had a fit when she saw it. You wouldn't know it to look at her, but Rose absolutely loves all things that have to do with cars, trucks, and motorcycles. She even knew how to fix them. She once told me that even though she has more money than she knows what to do with, that one of the few things she would love to do would be to work in a garage. I'll have to give Jake a call, and see if he could do something about that.

After she finished gushing over how much she loved my old Chevy truck, we got in and I drove her around the town, pointing out the different places that were worth mentioning. I showed her the library, the grocery store, and a bunch of other places before we stopped at the Lodge to have lunch.

We finished eating our lunches and then headed out, so I could show her the last place on our stop.

Forks High School, or as I used to call it: Hell.

I say _used to _because even though I used to hate it, it was now one of the reasons why I moved back to Forks since they had a position open for an English teacher. I actually have an appointment with the Principal tomorrow, to go over my job application. With any luck, I'll get it.

After I showed her the high school, we went back to my house where we ordered a pizza, and sat around watching movies until it was time for me to go to bed.

After all, I had a big day ahead of me tomorrow.

**A/N: I know this chapter wasn't about Edward, but I hope it was still okay.**

**Thanks for reviewing, and following.**

**Next up: The mystery surrounding Edward.**

**See you soon!**


	5. The Past Revealed

**A/N: Hi, everyone. Thanks again for leaving me lots of reviews and following this story. :)**

**I think this is possibly going to be the longest chapter in this story. I don't usually like to write super long ones, so don't expect any to be this long again. I like to keep them kind of short, so I can update more often.**

**The big reveal is in this chapter, so I'm just gonna let you get to it. ;)**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns**_** Twilight**_**.**

**Chapter 5 - The Past Revealed**

**BPOV**

The next morning, I was pulled out of my sleep by Rose shaking me and saying, "Bella! You need to wake up, or you're going to be late for your interview." That woke me up instantly.

"Crap! What time is it?"

"11:50. You've got about half an hour before you need to be at the high school."

"Why didn't you wake me up sooner? And why are you dressed?" I asked her.

Rose put her hands on her hips. "First of all, it's not my responsibility to wake you up," she said sarcastically. "Secondly, I'm dressed because I'm going with you."

"Rose, you do realize that you can't go in with me, right?"

"I know that," she snapped. "I'm going to wait out in the truck. Now, hurry up, hop in the shower, and get dressed so we can go." And with that, she walked out of the room.

After taking one of the shortest showers ever, I went to my closet and pulled out a a burgundy colored blouse and a black knee-length skirt to go with it. Then, I went back into the bathroom, put my hair up into a bun, and added a light dusting of makeup before making my way downstairs to the kitchen.

"Okay," I said. "I'm ready to go."

"Nice outfit. You look very professional," complimented Rose as we walked out the door.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome. By the way, your dad told me to tell you 'good luck' and that he's working a double shift tonight, so he won't be home until sometime tomorrow night."

"Okay. Thanks for letting me know." I told her as we walked out to my truck.

"No problem." she replied as she got in.

I started up the truck and we made our way to the high school. I pulled into the parking lot and pulled into a space and turned the engine off. "Okay," I began. "My interview will probably take about 30 minutes at the most, but if it takes any longer and you need me, just call me on my cell, alright?"

"Got it. Now go impress someone. I'll be fine." huffed Rose.

I got out of the truck and walked up to the building. I pulled open one of the doors and made my way to the main office. Since school hadn't started back up yet, the hallways were completely empty. It was creepy.

When I got to the main office, I walked inside and was greeted by the receptionist. "Hello. How can I help you?" she asked.

I smiled at her and replied, "Hi. My name is Isabella Swan. I have an appointment with the Principal for a job interview."

"Alright, just take a seat and I'll go see if he's ready for you."

I thanked her and sat down in one of chairs and waited for her to come back. She was only gone about two minutes before she came back. "He's ready to see you now. Just turn around the corner and it's the second office on the right. Good luck."

I thanked her again and followed her directions and walked up to the door and knocked.

"Come in," answered a muffled voice through the door. As soon as I stepped inside and closed the door behind me, I felt a strange static-like sensation course through my body, but I did my best to ignore it. "Please have a seat, I'll be with you in just a moment."

The Principal was sitting in a large black leather chair with the back facing towards me, so I couldn't tell what the man looked like, but his voice sounded slightly familiar. I sat down in the chair across from the desk and waited while he finished whatever he was doing. A minute later, he was done and he turned the chair around and faced me.

And I was suddenly looking into the face of none other than Edward Cullen.

I could feel myself beginning to panic. I wasn't ready to see him yet, but apparently, Fate had other ideas. The urge to run away from him was strong, but since I needed this job, I would just have to do my best to calm down and deal with it.

He glanced at me for a moment before gathering some paperwork together. He apparently didn't recognize me, but I guess that wasn't really much of a surprise. After all, my appearance had changed quite a bit from the last time he saw me. He looked back up at me and began to speak. While he talked, I noticed that his once vibrant emerald green eyes, now seemed duller, and filled with sadness.

"Hello. I'm Edward Cullen. I'm the new Principal. Forgive me, but I haven't had a chance to look through your application yet. I've just recently been given this job and I'm still trying to get things organized," he explained as he searched through the papers in front of him. "So, you're here to apply for the English teaching position, is that correct Miss...?"

"Isabella Swan." I finished.

His hands immediately stopped shuffling the papers.

"Isabella Swan?" he asked quietly as recognition dawned on him. He raised his head to look at me more closely, and for a split second, his eyes filled with life before going back to being sad and dull. "Bella?" he whispered.

He opened his mouth to speak again, and from the look on his face, I knew that he was going to try and apologize to me, but I couldn't bear to hear it right now. My emotions were all over the place at the moment. I was nervous enough about my interview to begin with, and now I was sitting in front of the one person who hurt me more than anybody else. This was just too much for me right now. I could feel tears begin to run down my face.

Before he could say anything, I said, "Stop!" I began to feel like the walls were closing in on me, and it was getting harder to breathe. I think I was having a panic attack.

Through my tears, I saw him get up to walk towards me, but being closer to him right now, would just make it worse. "Don't come any closer!" I said loudly, my voice full of panic. "I have to get out of here."

I opened up the door and ran out of his office without saying another word, and I could hear him calling my name, but I kept running until I was outside and moving towards my truck.

Once I reached it, I jumped in and slammed the door shut, startling Rose. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"No," I answered shakily. "I'm not okay. I'll explain everything when we get home. I just need to get out of here right now." I started up the truck and pulled out of the parking lot and drove back to my house.

Once there, I got out of my truck and ran inside and up to my room to calm down. Rose joined me a few minutes later after giving me a little bit of time.

"So," she started. "You want to tell me happened back there?"

I sniffed a couple of times. "Not really," I croaked, my voice hoarse from crying. "But I think I kind of have to. I know I probably freaked you out a bit."

"Yeah, you did." Rose sighed. "I've never seen you like that before," she said quietly.

"I think I had a panic attack."

"Seriously? What on earth could could have possibly caused you to have a panic attack?" asked Rose with a bewildered look on her face.

"Edward Cullen."

She gave me a confused look. "Who the hell is Edward Cullen?"

I sighed. "Remember when I first met you, you asked me why I moved to Florida?"

She nodded. "Yeah. You told me you moved because you were bullied a lot, and your best friend turned into a total douche bag."

"The douche bag is Edward," I stated.

"Oh. I'm sensing there's more to it though?"

"A lot more."

"Okay. Why don't you start from the beginning then?"

"Alright," I sighed. "Back when we were kids, Edward and I were best friends. We did everything together, and were nearly inseparable. We even shared a bed when we slept over at each others houses, although our parents tried to put a stop to that once we got older, but even then, we still did it." I laughed at the memory. "Edward would sneak out of the house and climb in through my bedroom window that I would leave unlocked."

Rose smiled. "Really? That is so Dawson's Creek," she giggled.

"Shut up," I said playfully. "I guess we had just gotten so used to doing it from when we were little, that it was hard for us to sleep apart. But it was never sexual or anything. He would always leave before my dad woke up, so we never got into trouble, although, one time Edward forgot to close the window back up and my dad lectured me on safety and locking my window at night. The only time I ever locked my window was when I got mad at Edward for something."

"Go on," urged Rose.

"Well anyways, we remained best friends until we reached high school. Then things began to change."

"What happened?"

"Puberty finally caught up to Edward." I got up and started pacing around the room. "You see," I started. "Up until then, Edward and I were bullied by everyone, for a few different reasons. He was teased for hanging out with a girl all the time, and for the way he looked. Before puberty hit, he was real short and lanky, and wore glasses. He looked like a typical nerd. As for me, I was short and fat, not to mention extremely clumsy. I was always tripping over things, or getting hurt. Being bullied was kind of expected, I guess."

"So how does puberty have to do with anything?" Rose questioned.

"Well, the summer before we entered high school, Edward hit a growth spurt and filled out a bit. He also started wearing contacts too. I'll admit, he had gotten hot. Me, on the other hand, didn't really change at all. I wasn't the only one to notice either.

On our first day of high school, some of the kids that bullied us, 'the popular kids', approached us. The popular crowd consisted of Tanya Denali, Mike Newton, Jessica Stanley, Lauren Mallory, Tyler Crowley, and Eric Yorkie. They wanted Edward to hang out with them and he told them he'd have to think about it. After they had walked away, he talked to me about it. He told me that maybe if he hung out with them, he could get them to stop bothering me. That sounded like a good idea, so I told him to go ahead. Little did I know, I would come to regret that."

"Okay. So, let me get this straight so far," said Rose. "The popular kids asked Edward to hang out with them, and you told him to go ahead because the both of you thought that he'd be able to stop the bullying?"

"Pretty much."

"Then what happened?"

"At first, he tried to stop them whenever they bothered me, but I guess he just realized that it was pointless. I could tell that even though he missed hanging out with me at school, he liked being popular. He got lots of attention from girls and no one gave him a hard time. He'd still hang out with me, but only after school was over and no one was around. I was okay with it at first, because at least I still got to spend some time with him, but throughout the year, things just went downhill.

He began to change. Instead of trying to help me when the others tripped me, or called me names, or did whatever else to me, he began to join them, and some days he would even ignore me altogether in public. I know he didn't like to hurt me, but that just made it hurt even more.

He stopped hanging out with me everyday after school like we used to, and whenever we did, he was always apologizing for something. He never wanted to go out anywhere either, like to see a movie, or grab a bite to eat. He didn't want to be seen in public with me.

It hurt. I felt like a dirty little secret, but I kept going along with it because he was the only friend I had and I didn't want to lose him. But I didn't realize it was going to happen anyways, but not before one of us got hurt."

I heard a sniffle, and I looked up at Rose to find her crying. "That's awful. What a dick."

I gave her a sad smile. "Unfortunately, it gets worse."

"How could it get any worse?"

"Well, after the school year ended, Edward's birthday came up. For as long as I could remember, I always spent the day at his house with him, while his parents and brother, threw him a party. It was always just us because up until then, we had been each other's only friend.

I should have known that this year, things would be different. After all, now he was 'popular'.

I had bought him an old album of blank sheet music that he had wanted, and wrote: '_To my best friend, Edward' _inside of it, and I wrapped it, and made my way over to his house. I knocked on the door and Edward answered, but he wasn't alone. Some of the other kids were standing behind him. He asked me what I was doing there because I wasn't invited.

That hurt me really bad. I had always celebrated his birthday with him. I remember feeling like I was going to cry, but I didn't want to do it in front of the others. I hid the gift behind my back and wished him a happy birthday. The others laughed and went back to doing whatever they doing before I had arrived. Edward had started to say something to me, but I turned my back on him and walked away from him, so he wouldn't see my tears. While he watched, I walked to the end of his driveway and threw his gift in the trash, before making my way back home.

I got home, locked my window, and cried myself to sleep, only to be woken up a few hours later to Edward tapping on my window. I rolled over and looked at him so he knew I was awake, and then I turned my back on him again and ignored him." I told her, as I cried at the memory.

"This Edward guy is such an asshole," scoffed Rose. "_If_ or should I say _when_, I meet him, I'm going to kick him in the balls with my stilettos."

"Our friendship didn't end there, unfortunately," I said with a frown. She gave me an incredulous look. "I know, I know. I should have ended it then, but I was lonely, and he wasn't mean to me all the time. I guess I just thought things would get better, but they didn't. Now can I continue?"

"Go ahead."

"Thank you," I replied. "Anyways, the new school year started and things between Edward and I got a little bit better after he apologized for the stunt he pulled at his party. He started hanging out with me more again and we were happy."

"Uh oh. You have 'but' face."

"Excuse me?" I exclaimed.

Rose rolled her eyes at me. "Not b-u-t-t face. 'B-u-t' face. As in, I sense a 'but' coming on."

"Whatever," I muttered. "BUT, that happiness soon ended. We were nearing the end of the school year again, and this year there was a dance that I wanted to go to. I didn't want to go alone, so I asked Edward if he would be willing to forget about being popular for one night, and take me, and he said yes. I was really excited about it. I had never been to a dance before, and I thought it would be fun. A few days later, I was in Port Angeles to get some things, when I spotted the perfect dress for me. It was dark blue and had kind of a halter top, and it was my size. I just had to get it. Since I was heavy, there weren't many dresses that would fit me and look nice. I had been saving my money to buy myself something nice, so I used it to buy this dress.

I took the dress home and immediately tried it on. It was like it was made for me. For once, I didn't feel fat or ugly, I felt beautiful. And I couldn't wait to wear it to the dance.

A week later, a few days before the dance, Tanya Denali somehow found out that Edward was taking me to the dance, and told the others. They started giving Edward shit about it, and when I asked him if he still wanted to go with me, he said yes, and we made plans for the night of the dance.

We agreed that he was going to pick me up at around 6:00 to take us to the school. Then we were going to go out for ice cream when the dance ended, and then he'd take me home.

I asked him once more if he was sure he wanted to take me, and he told me to stop asking him that, and I quote 'I already told you I was going to take you, and I will. I promise.'" I grew silent for a moment.

Rose frowned at me. "He broke his promise, didn't he?" she asked quietly.

I nodded. "I woke up that morning feeling happier than I had in a long time. I got up, showered, and spent the entire day getting ready. I kind of felt like a princess getting ready to go to a ball. When it was almost time for Edward to come and get me, I walked downstairs so my dad could see me before he left for work. He left a few minutes later. So, I sat down and waited for Edward to show up, and when he didn't show up at 6:00, I started to get worried. I called him and texted him, but he never answered, so I just continued to wait, thinking that maybe he just lost track of time. But when he still didn't show up an hour later, I realized he wasn't going to. He stood me up.

That was what broke me. He knew how much I was looking forward to going, and he promised me that he would take me, and he stood me up.

That's when I decided that whatever we had, was over. For good. That was the final straw. I wasn't going to let him treat me like crap anymore. At that moment, I wasn't sad. I was pissed."

Rose looked at me with wide eyes. "What did you do?"

I smiled. "Well, in a fit of rage, I stormed down the stairs and when to the closet where my dad keeps all his tools. I grabbed his powerdrill and some nails, and drilled my window shut. And then I left the drill on the window ledge to let Edward know he wasn't welcome here anymore."

Rose laughed at the smug look on my face. "Nice! Way to go Bella."

"Thanks. I'm not normally a the kind of person who likes revenge, but after all the pain he caused me, the look on his face when he saw what I did to my window, was worth it. I didn't speak to him again after that. Not until I saw him today. I didn't even tell him I was moving to Florida."

She hugged me and said, "Damn, you've been through a lot. Is this the first time you've ever told this to anyone?"

I nodded.

"Well thanks for trusting me enough to tell me. I'd never do something like that to you. You know that, right?"

"Yeah, I know."

She let go of me and stood up. "Enough depressing shit. How about we order a pizza and watch movies. You can figure out what you want to do about the job situation tomorrow. How does that sound?"

I grinned at her. "That sounds like the best thing I've heard all day. Let's do it."

**A/N: Wow. This is officially the longest chapter I have ever written. Now you know why I thought about explaining things in pieces.**

**So, how did you like it? Was it too much, or confusing? If it was confusing, just PM me, and I'll try to explain it more easily.**

**I hope it was okay though. I spent a lot of time on it.**

**Also, the "butt face" thing, is from season 4 of Buffy The Vampire Slayer. I can't remember which episode though, because I've been rewatching all the seasons on DVD. All I remember is that Buffy said that to Giles, and I found that kind of funny.**

**Anyways, let me know what you think of this chapter.**

**Thanks for reviewing, following, and adding this to your favorites. **

**See you soon! :)**


	6. EPOV - Interviews Are Nightmares

**A/N: Hi, everyone! Thanks for the reviews. I was really interested by what all of you thought of the last chapter. So far, nobody is a fan of Edward. LOL**

**So, before I let you get to the story, there a few things I want to clear up.**

**Question Number 1: Isn't Edward too young to be a Principal? **

**A: In this story at the present time, Edward and Bella are both 24. I'm not an expert on requirements for things like being a principal, but what I do know, is that there are a lot of things to consider. In the U.S., where I'm from, requirements can vary from state to state, and from what I researched, there is no set age limit for becoming one. There are also a lot more things to take into consideration, but I won't waste your time by explaining all of them. **

**So, to make a long explanation short, YES. It is possible for a 24 year old to become a Principal. It's a bit unlikely to actually happen, but it can.**

**Question Number 2: Is there a reason besides peer pressure, that caused Edward to stand Bella up for the dance?**

**A: Yes and no. It's kind of hard to explain without giving too much away. While his reason BEGAN with peer pressure, it's not the ONLY reason he did it.**

**If that answer is still kind of confusing, you'll just have to wait for the story to play out to get the truth. Sorry.**

**Question Number 3: Will there be any EPOV's?**

**A: I wasn't originally planning on it, but after much thought, yes there will be. Because of all the stuff he did to Bella, I thought a more in depth perspective would be good. As a matter of fact, this chapter is an EPOV. I'm warning you, though. I've only done an EPOV once before, so there is a chance it might not turn out well. They will most likely be kind of short too. We'll just have to see how they turn out.**

**So, after the longest author's note I think I've ever written, let's get on to the story.**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns **_**Twilight**_**.**

**Chapter 6 - Interviews are Nightmares**

**EPOV**

_I really hope tomorrow's interview goes well._

That was the first thing I thought when I got home today after a long day of interviews.

As the new Principal of Fork's High School, it was my job to interview people for teaching positions. The interview scheduled for tomorrow was very important. One of the school's English teacher's had a family emergency come up, and would be unable to teach this year, so we were in need of a new one.

Unfortunately, finding a new one isn't as easy as it sounds. Since there are only a few weeks left until the new school year begins, most teachers have already been hired elsewhere, and the ones that are available for the position...well, let's just say that they're not exactly what I was looking for.

So far, the few people that applied, were completely wrong for the job, not just as an English teacher, but as a teacher in general.

A woman named Heidi was the first one to apply for the job. She didn't get the job because not only did she look as if she borrowed her outfit from a hooker, but when her interview started to go downhill, she actually tried to seduce me. I refused her advances and told her to leave. Just thinking about that situation made me sick to my stomach.

When the next candidate walked in, I was a bit more hopeful. He introduced himself to me as Benjamin. After about 10 minutes into his interview, I was really beginning to think that he may be the person I was looking for, until he went to reach for something and I noticed the stains on his fingers, indicating he was frequent pot user. I showed him out, and kept myself busy until the next one showed up.

You know how people say 'the third time's the charm'? Not in this case. The guy walked in, sat down, and handed me his application to look over. He didn't even introduce himself. As I began to look over his application, I had to try really hard not to laugh out loud. This guy was a joke. Not only were most things spelled wrong, but his grammar and punctuation were terrible. Sure, nobody's perfect, we all make mistakes, but this looked like it had been written by a first grader. That's not a good thing when you're trying to apply for a job as an English teacher.

After politely turning him away, I got my things together and went home. I was too stressed and irritated to take the time to make a proper dinner, so I just heated up some leftovers, and sat down and watched whatever I could find on tv that was interesting.

Once it started to get late, I washed my dishes from dinner, and went to bed, hoping that tomorrow's interview, would be the last.

**A/N: So what did you think of Edward's interviews? It's not filled with his thoughts about Bella, but I wanted to add a little bit humor before we got to the drama.**

**I know the author's note at the top was really long, but I wanted to address some important questions I was asked.**

**Just so you know, the next chapter will also be in EPOV. It will be his point of view about Bella's interview, or attempted interview, I should say.**

**See you soon!**


	7. EPOV - Disaster

**A/N: Hi, everyone. For those of you who liked the last chapter, thank you. I know it was short and didn't really have anything important in it. It was mostly a little filler. That's because I wanted to kind of test my ability with writing an EPOV before I got to the good stuff again.**

**Also, I got my first flame. Want to hear what it said? Well here it is, and I quote, "****What a bullshit stupid chapter. Why would you waste our time with something that short?"**

**My response to that is: Don't blame ME for wasting YOUR time. I didn't force you to read it. There's no need to be nasty about it. In fact, if it was so short, it couldn't have taken much time to read it anyways, right? I don't mind if you don't like it, but you don't need to be rude about it.**

**As for all the nicer people who reviewed, I decided to work extra hard, and get you the other half of EPOV. **

**I hope you enjoy it. :)**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns **_**Twilight**_**.**

**Chapter 7 - Disaster**

**EPOV**

I woke up this morning with a bad feeling in the pit of stomach. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's just from the leftovers I ate last night.

Whatever the case may be, I have to go to work today. After all, I have a very important interview today.

I showered, got dressed, had some coffee and toast, and proceeded to make my way to the school. Once I got there, I noticed I had a bit of time before my first appointment for the day arrived, so I decided to try to get some organized around my office.

About an hour later, Gina, the receptionist, knocked on my door. I told her to come in, and she informed me that my first appointment had arrived.

"Send them in, please. Thanks, Gina." I said as I turned around to try and tidy up a bit.

"Sure thing, Mr. Cullen," she said. Then I heard her walking back out. A moment later, I heard a different set of footsteps approach the door and knock.

"Come in," I said loud enough for them to hear. I heard them open the door, step in, and then close it behind them. All of a sudden, the air seemed to become filled with a strange, electrical charge, like static almost. I ignored it, and with my back still turned towards the person, I said, "Please have a seat, I'll be with you in just a moment."

I heard them take a seat and a minute later, I was done putting things away. I turned back around to face the person that came in for the interview.

I gave them a quick once over before looking away to find some paperwork. Because I have always been such an observant person, I was able to see that it was a woman around my age, with long brown hair and dark eyes, with that quick glance.

After gathering up what I needed, I looked back to her, and introduced myself. "Hello. I'm Edward Cullen. I'm the new Principal. Forgive me, but I haven't had a chance to look through your application yet. I've just recently been given this job and I'm still trying to get things organized," I explained as I looked through the papers in front of me for her application. "So, you're here to apply for the English teaching position, is that correct Miss...?" I waited for her to finish for me.

"Isabella Swan," she said.

Upon hearing that name, I stopped what I was doing. That had been the last name I expected to hear. At first, I thought I misheard her, so I quietly asked, "Isabella Swan?" I looked up at her and took a closer look. Now that I knew it was her, I could sort of recognize her. I didn't at first, because now she was older, and wore makeup. She looked different from how I remembered her.

"Bella?" I whispered, almost as if to make sure she was really in front of me, and not some kind of hallucination.

But it wasn't. She was really here in my office.

I wasn't really sure what to do next. She had totally taken me by surprise. After the way I treated her all those years ago, I never expected to see her again.

She used to be my best friend and I was so horrible to her, that she didn't even bother to tell me she was going to live with her mom in Florida. She just left without a word.

But I deserved it. I know that. But that didn't mean I didn't miss her at all.

I was so devastated when I learned she had left. Ever since then, I've been miserable. I've never truly been happy for the last 6 years.

Sure, I have friends, but I've never gotten as close to them as I was to her.

Shortly after Bella left Forks, I made a vow to myself. If I ever saw her again, I would do whatever it took to try and fix things with her. I never got the chance to apologize to her for what I did. Maybe now was that chance.

Not wanting to miss this opportunity, I opened my mouth to apologize to her, not seeing the tears in her eyes. Before I could say a word, she let the tears fall, and told me to stop. She knew what I had been about to do.

She started to breathe heavily, as if it were hard for her to breathe, and she had this frantic look in her eyes. It looked like she was having some kind of panic attack, so I got up to walk over to her to see if I could help, but as I got closer, she shouted, "Don't come any closer! I have to get out of here."

Before I knew what happened, she flung open the door to my office, and ran out. When my mind finally caught up with me, I took off after her, shouting her name, but she kept running until she was out of the building.

I finally gave up when I reached the front doors of the building and I watched as she got into her truck, and drove off.

I stood there for a minute to let myself calm down before walking back to the main office. When I reached it, Gina was already standing there waiting for me.

"Are you okay, Mr. Cullen? What happened?" she asked me with concern in her voice.

I ran my fingers through my hair and sighed. "No, I'm not okay. I used to know her, but things ended badly between us."

Gina frowned. "Oh. Bad breakup?" she asked.

"Something like that," I said quietly. "We used to be best friends, but I did some things that really hurt her," I explained.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"So am I."

"Would you like to go home early?" she asked softly. "That was the only thing you had scheduled for today, so it's not like you'd be missing out on anything."

I nodded. "I think that would be best. I just really want to go home and be alone for a little while."

"Okay," she said with a small smile. "Go get some rest. You look like you need it."

"Thanks, Gina."

"It's no problem, Mr. Cullen. I'll see you tomorrow," she replied, as she walked back to her desk.

I nodded to her and walked back to my office to gather my things. Once I had everything, I made my way to my car, and went home.

'_So much for a good interview_,' I thought. We didn't even make it that far. Crap, I'll have to to reschedule another appointment with her soon. Despite our past, I was still willing to be professional and give her the opportunity to try and get the job, as long as she qualifies for it. The rest is up to her.

I pulled into my driveway, and got out and walked inside. I tossed my keys on the table, and went straight to my room. I got out of my suit, and slid into bed in my boxers, and turned on the tv.

The next thing I know, I'm waking up, to my alarm clock. Since it's now Saturday, I don't have to work, so I went right back to bed, and hoped that dreams of a brown eyed girl would find me, while I slept.

**A/N: So, how was this one? Better? I hope so, I worked really hard on it to make up for the short one I posted yesterday.**

**Please remember, I welcome your comments and criticism, but please be polite and respectful. There's no need to be rude. Thank you.**

**See you soon! **


	8. EPOV - Big Brother

**A/N: Wow. I am so happy right now. This story has reached over 100 reviews! I never thought I'd see the day when that would happen. Thank you all so much. I try to update at least every 2 or 3 days, so I'm sorry it took a bit longer to get you this one. I've been busy.**

**On to the next subject I'd like to talk about: the length of my chapters.**

**I know my chapters are short, but that's just how I write. I like them to be short because I can update more often.**

**Just so you know, you can expect chapters to have between 800 and 2500 words in them. If by some chance, a chapter is longer than that, don't expect it too often.**

**Here's another EPOV. You'll get to find out a little about his past, so I'll get on with it.**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns **_**Twilight**_**.**

**Chapter 8 - Big Brother**

**EPOV**

_I had just gotten back from spending a week in Seattle visiting Emmett, and I was almost home. As I pulled into the driveway, I was surprised to see my father's car parked there. He usually didn't get home until very late at night. It was very strange._

_After I parked my car and grabbed my bag with my stuff in it, I walked up to the house, opened the door, and walked inside. I could hear my parents talking in the kitchen. Whatever it was about, couldn't be good, judging on their tones. I hid around the corner and listened in to their conversation._

_"Do you think something happened between them?" Esme asked with worry in her voice._

_I heard my dad sigh. "I don't know. Why do you ask that?"_

_"Well, she hasn't been around here much lately, and Edward's been acting kind of strange for a while now. You know how close those two are...or were. They used to be joined at the hip."_

_I could just imagine the exasperated look on my father's face. "Maybe nothing happened between them. They're teenagers, Esme. Sometimes they just drift apart," he said calmly._

_"I know that, Carlisle. But why else would she do that without telling him...or us? She's always been like a part of the family." She sniffed, a telltale sign she was about to cry. "I just can't think of any reasons as to why she would do that."_

_I heard my father's footsteps as he walked across the kitchen, probably to give my mom a hug. "I can't either, sweetheart. Maybe we should sit down with him and ask him," he suggested._

_"I think that would be a good idea, but how are we supposed to break the news to him?" she cried."Even though I don't think they've spent much time together lately, he's still going to crushed."_

_"I think it would be best if we just get straight to the point."_

_I decided to make myself known at that moment, and pretend I had just gotten home._

_I put a fake smile on my face, and as I walked into the kitchen, I asked, "Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad. What are you guys talking about?"_

_My mom wiped the tears off her face and walked over to me. "Honey, I think you should sit down. We need to talk to you about Bella."_

_The fake smile I was wearing immediately left my face. I got a real bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. "Is she okay? Is she hurt?" I asked worriedly._

_My father walked over to the two of us. "Calm down. Bella's okay. She's not hurt." He pulled out a chair and sat down and ran his fingers through his hair. With a sigh, he said, "There's no easy way to say this, but...Bella left Forks to live her mom in Florida."_

_What? She left? When?_

_My chest began to tighten. Why did she leave? _

_I began to panic. Why didn't she tell me?_

_As it became more difficult for me to breathe, my vision started to get fuzzy._

_**Bang! Bang! Bang!**_

_What the fuck is that banging noise? _

Just as my vision began to fade, I suddenly woke up in a cold sweat, my breathing heavy.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Once I got my breathing in check, I got out of bed, put some pants on, and made my way downstairs towards the noise. As I reached the bottom of the stairs, I realized that someone was pounding on my door with a lot of force.

There was only one person who would do that.

As I made my way to my front door, I yelled, "Stop pounding on the damn door! I'm on my way!" The banging stopped as I reached the door. I unlocked it and pulled it open to find myself face to face with my older brother, Emmett.

He was standing there with a big smile on his face. "Hey, little bro," he said cheerfully.

I glared at him. "Emmett," I said irritably, "what the_ fuck _do you want?"

He took a step back and held his hands up in surrender. "Dude, chill out. What the hell is your problem?" he said with a glare of his own.

I sighed. "Sorry. I didn't sleep well."

Emmett grinned. "I can tell. You look like shit."

"Gee, thanks," I said sarcastically.

"No problem," he replied. I flipped him the bird before turning around and walking back into my house with him following me. We walked to the kitchen, where I made a pot of coffee while Emmett leaned against the counter and watched me.

I could feel his eyes on me. "What?" I asked.

He shrugged his shoulders. "I didn't say anything."

"You don't have to. Why are you staring at me?"

"I'm just thinking."

"Well don't hurt yourself," I joked.

"Ha ha. Very funny," he smirked.

I smiled at him. "I thought it was." The coffee was finished brewing and I poured the both of us a cup. We grabbed them and carried them to the kitchen table before sitting down. "So, what were you thinking about?" I asked as I took a sip.

Emmett looked me right in the eyes and said, "I was thinking about Bella."

That was not the answer I was expecting. I choked on my coffee and it burned my throat as I swallowed it. When I finally calmed down, I asked him, "What about Bella?"

"You know she's back in town, right?"

"Yeah, I know. We actually ran into each other. She came in for an interview. She was going to apply for the job as an English teacher."

That caught his attention. "Yeah? How did it go?"

"It didn't."

Emmett gave me a confused look. "What do you mean?"

I ran my fingers through my hair and sighed. "We didn't exactly get that far. She kind of panicked and took off."

My brother frowned. "That sucks. You're going to try and talk to her right?"

Emmett knew about everything that had happened between Bella and I. Shortly after my parents had told me about her leaving, he came home and questioned me about it. I wouldn't tell my parents why I thought she had left, so I guess they thought that Emmett might be able to get the truth out of me.

They were right.

I broke down and told him everything, as long as he promised not to tell them. By the time I had finished, he was so pissed at me, that he punched me in the face. Thankfully, he didn't break my nose, but I had one hell of a shiner to show for it. Luckily for me, Emmett kept his word and didn't repeat anything back to my parents, even when they demanded to know why he punched me.

I nodded at him. "Yeah. I'm going to try, but I'm not sure if she'd want to speak with me. I wouldn't blame her. I need to reschedule an interview with her though. I know that she most likely won't want to be my friend again, I know that, but I'm still willing to be professional."

Emmett looked thoughful. "So, you're not going to try and mend your friendship with her?"

I shook my head. "I didn't say that. As much as I want to, I know that, if given the chance to do so, it would take time. However, I'm willing to give her as much space as she needs."

My brother gave me a small smile. "Good answer," he said. He stood up and carried his coffee cup over to the sink and washed it out and set it out to dry. "Well," he began, "I'm gonna head out now. I just wanted to see how you were doing before I went and saw Bella myself."

I looked at him in surprise. "You're going to see Bella?"

He nodded at me. A sad look crossed his face as he replied, "Yeah. She was like a little sister to me. I've missed her." He paused for a moment before he quietly continued, "Mom and Dad have missed her too, you know."

"I know," I whispered. I'm ashamed to admit it, but it took me a while after she left to realize that, not only did I hurt Bella and myself with my actions, but I also hurt my family and Bella's father. If it weren't for me, she never would have left in the first place.

He walked back over to me and pat me on the back. "Dude, stop beating yourself up. If it makes you feel any better, I think that one day, things will be okay with you two."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome. I'll tell her you said 'hi'." Then he turned around started to walk towards the door. Before he left, he hollered, "See you later, bro!"

Once he was gone, I thought, _I hope Bella has a better reaction to him, than she did to me._

**A/N: I had a little trouble starting this chapter, so I hope it turned out okay.**

**Thanks again for reviewing. It makes me very happy. :)**

**See you soon!**


	9. Guess Who?

**A/N: Thank you for the awesome reviews. Some of them really cracked me up. :)**

**That's all I have to say for now.**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns **_**Twilight.**_

**Chapter 9 - Guess Who?**

**BPOV**

Rosalie was taking a shower while I was gathering ingrediants for breakfast because I was going to teach Rose how to make it. After I had everything sorted the way I wanted, I sat down to watch some tv while I waited for Rose to finish with her shower. I was flipping through the channels and landed on the Travel Channel. Bizarre Foods was on. It was one of my favorite shows.

_Knock! Knock! Knock!_

_Who the hell could that be?_

I was so focused on the tv, that I didn't hear a car pull in the driveway. I got up and walked over to the door. "Who's there?" I yelled.

"Guess who, Bella Boo."

_Bella Boo? There's only one person who has ever called me that..._

I flung the door open. With a very big smile on my face, I yelled, "Emmett!" I launched myself into his arms and he swung me around in circles, making me laugh. "Put me down!" I giggled. He set me back down and gave me another hug.

"Man, I've really missed you Bella Boo," he said with a grin.

"Emmett, it's wonderful to see you, but if you call me Bella Boo ever again, I'll kick you in the balls," I said cheerliy.

He covered his crotch with his hands, and said, "I'll keep that in mind. Speaking of balls, you seem to have have grown a pair."

"Thank you. I blame it on spending too much time with Rose," I joked.

"Who's Rose?"

I smiled. "Rose is my best friend and she's practically my sister. She's actually staying with my dad and I for a bit, so you'll get to meet her. She's actually in the shower right now, so you'll have to wait a little bit. I gestured to the door. "Would you like to come in and wait with me?"

He nodded at me. "Sure, why not."

I led him into the living room where the tv was still on. "What are you watching?" he asked as he sat down.

"Bizarre Foods. Ever watch it?"

Emmett shrugged his shoulders. "A couple of times. It kind of grosses me out," he said with a disgusted look on his face.

"It grosses me out too, but for some reason it always makes me hungry," I said with a laugh. "I love it though, I watch it all the time."

I heard the shower shut off upstairs. It usually took Rose a few minutes to get herself dried off and dressed, so I decided to chat with Emmett while I waited for her.

"So, the last I heard, you were busy playing football for the Seattle Seahawks." I asked him.

"That's old news, Bella. I haven't played for almost 2 years now," he said with a sad smile.

That was surprising. "Why not? You love football."

"I blew out my knee during a game and can't play pro anymore."

"That sucks. So, what do you do now?" I questioned.

"Now, I own a nightclub in Seattle, and a bar in Port Angeles," he explained.

"Good for you," I said.

It looked like Emmett was about to say something, but Rose chose that moment to walk into the room. As she did, she asked, "Hey Bella. Who are you talking to?" When she saw Emmett, a quick look of recognition flashed across her face before it was replaced with a small smile.

I saw Emmett's eyes widen as he took in the sight of her.

"Rose, this is Edward's older brother, Emmett."

"Oh," she said flatly. She looked back and forth between Emmett and I, before saying, "Bella, can I speak to you in private for a minute?"

I nodded at her and then looked over at Emmett, who was staring at Rose with a weird expression on his face. "Em, we'll be back in just a minute, okay?"

"What? Yeah, that's fine. Take your time," he said slowly, his eyes never leaving Rose.

Rose and I got up and walked into the kitchen. "Is something wrong?" I asked.

"Not exactly."

I narrowed my eyes at her. "What do you mean 'not exactly'?"

Rose blushed, something I've rarely seen her do. She leaned in closer to me and whispered, "I know him."

I looked at her in surprise. "What? How?"

"Um, I actually arrived in Washington 3 days earlier than you, and two nights before I got to Forks, I decided to check out Seattle a little and ended up hanging out at a club I came across. That's where I met him."

At this information sank in, I realized she must have found the nightclub that Emmett told me he owned earlier. But what was with the weird looks they gave each other when she walked into the room?

"So what's the problem?" I asked.

Rose toyed with the hem of her shirt and looked at the floor. "Um, I may or may not have slept with him," she whispered.

"Rose!" I gasped.

"I know! It was a slutty thing to do, but it was like I was drawn to him or something."

"Okay," I said slowly. "So what are you going to do now?"

Rose looked thoughtful for a moment. "That depends."

"On what?"

"On whether or not I decide to stay in Washington. Indefinitely."

"Is that what you want?"

"I don't know yet. I've been thinking about it."

I smiled at her. "Well, until you decide, why don't you just get to know him for now? He's a really great guy."

Rose hummed in agreement. "Sounds good. Now come on, we should get back to him. He's probably wondering what's taking so long."

The two of us walked back into the living room and found Emmett whispering to someone on his phone. When he saw us, he looked like he had just gotten caught doing something he wasn't supposed to do, and then he said into his phone, "Okay. They're back. I'll talk to you later. Bye."

_What the hell was that about?_

I think he was up to something. But what?

**A/N: So Rose and Emmett know each other, huh? **

**We'll find out why Emmett is really there to see Bella in the next chapter.**

**Thanks for reviewing.**

**See you soon! :)**


	10. Schemes and Things

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews again. It makes me so happy to open up my mailbox and see all of the reviews and follow alerts in it. You guys are awesome. :)**

**So, in the last chapter, we found out that Rose and Emmett 'knew' each other, and that Bella thinks Emmett is up to something.**

**Since you all are probably wondering who Emmett was talking to on the phone, I've decided to give you a little EmPOV to help you understand what he's up to. It won't be an entire chapter though, just a snippet. The rest will be BPOV.**

**Let's find out what's going on, shall we?**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns**_** Twilight**_**.**

**Chapter 10 - Schemes and Things**

**Emmett POV**

I was sitting in Bella's living room waiting for her and her friend, Rose to come back from having their little chat in the kitchen.

Rose.

My heart sped up just thinking about her. The night she walked into my club, Eclipse, was definitely one of the best nights of my life. Seriously.

We talked and danced for a bit, and then later that night, we went back to my place and had some of the best sex I had ever experienced in my life. The next morning however, wasn't so great when I woke up to find myself alone. I was so crushed. She didn't even leave me a note or her phone number.

I never thought I would see her again.

I think it was either an extreme coincidence that she was Bella's best friend, or maybe me finding her again, had something to do with fate. Who knows?

As happy as I was to see her, I wondered how this would affect my plan to help 'break the ice' between Edward and Bella.

As if she knew I had a dilemma, my phone rang.

I pushed the talk button, and answered, "Hi, Mom."

"Hello, sweetheart," she said sweetly. "Have you asked Bella about coming over for dinner, yet?"

"Not yet. Um, Bella has a friend staying with her, and I don't want to be rude and not invite her too, so is it possible to add another place to the table?" I asked, trying not to sound too excited. The last thing I need is for my mom get wind of the fact that I have my sight set on someone.

"Of course! The more the merrier," she said happily. "Can you talk about the plan for a moment?"

"Just a moment. Bella and her friend went into the kitchen to talk for a minute."

"Just so you know, Edward accepted my invitation to dinner a few minutes ago, so the plan is good on this side. Just let me know if they accept."

I saw Rose and Bella walking back into the room. Not wanting them to find out what I was up to, I said into the phone, "Okay. They're back. I'll talk to you later. Bye."

Unfortunately, in my haste to hang up, I think I only made myself look more guilty of something. At least, that's what it seemed like, judging from the expression of Bella's face.

**BPOV**

I looked at Emmett suspiciously, before quickly putting a smile back on face and pretending nothing was wrong. "Who was that?" I asked him brightly.

He smiled at me. "That was my mom."

Well that was a surprise. From the look on his face when we walked in, I was sure it had been Edward. "Oh? How is your mom?" I asked politely.

"She's good," he began. "She actually wanted to know if the two of you would like to come over for dinner tonight."

I looked over at Rose, who had a shocked look on her face. "The _two_ of us?" she repeated. "As in both Bella and myself?"

Emmett nodded at her. "I'm assuming you went into the kitchen to tell Bella about the fact that we've met before, so I don't see a reason to pretend that we don't know each other. So, when my mom asked me to invite Bella to dinner, I figured I'd ask you to go too. Besides, she's your host. It would be kind of rude to leave you behind."

"From the look on your face, I'm guessing there's more...?" said Rose.

He grinned at her. "Plus, I'd like a chance to get to know you some more, if you want. Although, I think you kind of owe me, since you left without a word last time we saw each other."

"Geez, Rose. That was kind of rude. I'm with Em, here. You owe him." She and Emmett laughed when she gave me the finger.

"Okay. I'll go," she agreed.

"What about you, Bella Boo?"

I glared at him for using that nickname. He immediately covered his crotch again. "Oops! It slipped out. Sorry!"

Rose snickered. "I bet she's heard that one before."

We all laughed, and I smacked her on the arm. "Shut up!" Once we all calmed down from out laughing fit, I looked over at Em with a serious look on my face. "Is Edward going to be there?"

He gave me a knowing look. "Yes. Why? Don't you want to see him?"

I kept opening and closing my mouth, trying to figure out how to answer that. Luckily, he didn't make me suffer too long, before he sighed and confessed, "Bella, chill. Edward told me everything."

"He did?"

"Yeah, not long after you left."

"Everything?"

"Everything," he said with a nod.

"Oh," I said without emotion.

"If it makes you feel better, I punched him afterwards. He had a black eye for almost two weeks."

"Good. He deserves more than that, though," I said quietly.

Emmett got up and walked over to me and gave me a hug. "I know." He let go of me, and took a step back and looked me in the eyes. "And so does he. He truly regrets what he's done."

"He better," spat Rose. "Because if he doesn't, I'll be more than happy to beat the crap out of him."

He looked over at Rose, and grinned. "And I'd be more than happy to hold him for you while you did."

That made me smile. "You guys are the best, but if anyone gets to beat him up, it's me."

"So, do you want to come over for dinner, or not?"

I sighed. "I guess. But only because I want to see your parents."

Emmett shrugged his shoulders. "Good enough for me. Dinner starts at 7pm, so try to get here around 6:30, so you're not late." He looked at his watch and said, "Well, as much as I'd love to stay and chat, I need to go get ready for dinner," he said with a grin. He gave Rose and I a hug, and said his goodbyes. He opened the door to leave, but stopped and looked back at me. "By the way, I saw my brother this morning, and he wanted me to remind you that you need to reschedule an interview with him." And then he turned around and left.

_Crap. I almost forgot about that._

"I guess you have to talk to Edward tonight, after all," smirked Rose.

**A/N: So what did you think of Emmett's POV?**

**Just so we're clear, he had his mother plan a dinner, as a way to get Edward and Bella to see each other.**

**You've just got to love Emmett.**

**Rose, too. LOL.**

**See you soon! ;)**


	11. Nerves

**A/N: Thanks for all of the reviews. You guys are the best. :)**

**I apologize for the late update. The last few days have been a bit difficult for me, and I wasn't really up to writing much.**

**18 years ago, on September 13, my mother passed away. So, I've been a bit down. :(**

**Also, as I'm writing this AN, I just realized that in the Twilight books, Bella's birthday is September 13. Weird.**

**Anyways, I've made you wait long enough.**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns **_**Twilight**_**.**

**Chapter 11 - Nerves**

**BPOV**

Rose and I were going through our things trying to find outfits to wear for the dinner at the Cullen's house. She sighed and groaned, "Ugh! Why is this so difficult? I've never had a problem trying to figure out what to wear before."

I smirked at her. "That's because you never had to meet the family of a guy you've slept with."

Rose threw a shoe at me, but I ducked my head and she missed. "Shut up!" she yelled teasingly.

I rolled my eyes at her. "Relax," I said, "you're probably just nervous." I continued to dig through my closet until I found what I was looking for. I pulled out a knee-length black skirt, and a dark purple blouse. "You've got nothing to worry about, Rose. The Cullen's are very nice people. They'll like you," I assured her, as I put them on.

"I hope so." She held up a dark red dress and asked, "What do you think of this? Too formal?"

I turned and looked at it. "It's perfect." I turned around to let her get dressed. Once she had it on, I asked her, "Want to help me with my hair and makeup?"

"Sure," replied Rose. We gathered what we needed and walked down to the kitchen so I could sit down while she worked her magic on me. Once there, I sat down and watched as she got things ready. "Do you want your hair straightened, or curled?"

I thought about it for a moment. "I'll go with curled."

Rose nodded. "Curled it is, then." She got the curling iron heated up and began to loosely curl my hair. She was done within 5 minutes. She then started on my makeup. She added a little black eyeliner to my eyes and smudged it a bit to give me smokey eyes. Then she added a tiny bit of blush to my cheeks and some light pink lip gloss to finish. When she was done, Rose held up a mirror to me and with a satisfied smile on her face, she asked, "What do you think?"

As always, she did a fantastic job. If Rose wasn't so intent on working on cars for a living, she could definitely be a stylist and a makeup artist. She was that good. "It's perfect. Thank you."

"You are more than welcome." Then she smiled warmly at me before doing her own hair and makeup. "So, what do you plan on doing when you see Edward?"

I sighed and slumped my shoulders. "Well, so much for my good mood. You just had to bring him up."

Rose rolled her eyes at me. "Well, he _is_ going to be there tonight," she said sarcastically.

"I know that. I don't know what I'm going to do." I got up and started pacing around the kitchen. "As much as I want to ignore him, I can't. Not really. Carlisle and Esme would notice, and I really don't want to explain to them why."

"Why not? So what if they find out?"

I frowned. "Esme and Carlisle think very highly of Edward. when we were younger, sometimes they acted as if he hung the moon. I don't want to hurt them by telling them otherwise. I just can't."

"Well, maybe-"

"No, Rose!" I interrupted. "If they want to know what happened, they can find out from_ him_," I huffed.

Rose held her hands up in mock surrender. "Okay! Okay! Sorry for pushing. Geez, you don't have to snap at me."

I squeezed my eyes shut and took a deep breath before opening them again. "I know. I'm sorry. I guess you're not the only one who's nervous about the dinner."

Rose walked over to me and gave me a hug. "I'm sure we'll both be fine. You said yourself, that they weren't so bad," she reminded me.

"Yeah," I said quietly. I looked over at the clock and saw that it was time for us to go. "Come on. We need to get going." We grabbed our purses, and Rose went out to my truck while I left a note for Charlie, letting him know where we were, in case he came home early from his shift.

I headed out the door and got into my truck. I started it up, and drove to the Cullen's house. As I pulled into the familiar driveway, Rose said, "Wow. This house is amazing."

I grinned at her. "Wait until you see the inside. While I'm sure it probably doesn't look the same as I remember, it's bound to look all fancy, warm, and inviting, at the same time since Esme is an interior designer."

I parked the truck and turned it off. I looked over at Rose and asked, "Are you ready?"

"I guess I have to be," she said with a sigh.

I chuckled. "Way to show some enthusiasm, Rose," I teased.

She cracked a smile. "I try."

We got out of the truck and made our way to the front door. With a shaky hand, I rang the doorbell, and we waited. A minute later, the door swung open and we were met by a man with blond hair, kind blue eyes, and a warm smile.

Carlisle.

"Hello, Bella. It's wonderful to see you again." He stepped forward and gave me a hug. He still smelled the way I remembered, like old spice and cinnamon.

He let go of me and stepped back. "It's good to see you too, Carlisle." I turned and gestured toward Rose, and said, "Carlisle, this is my friend, Rose."

He held out his hand for her to shake. She took it and he said, "I figured as much. Emmett can't seem to stop talking about you." Rose blushed at that. "It's nice to meet you Rose.

With a shy smile, something I've never seen from Rose before, she replied, "It's nice to meet you too, Mr. Cullen."

He gave her a crooked smile and told her, "Please, call me Carlisle."

"Okay," she answered.

"Well, now that we have been introduced, why don't you two come inside. Everyone else is in the dining room. Bella, you remember where that is, don't you?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yes."

"Good," Carlisle said. "I don't want you to think I'm a bad host by not taking you there myself, but I need to grab some wine from the garage for Esme. Feel free to go ahead and join the others."

"Alright."

After Carlisle had left us to go get the wine, Rose turned to me and whispered, "Holy shit. He was hot."

"Yeah, that's pretty much what every other woman thinks when they see him."

Rose chuckled. "I bet."

I rolled my eyes at her. "Before you start thinking about jumping him, why don't we go see the others," I said sarcastically.

With Rose beside me, I began to walk towards the dining room. "Yeah, that's a good idea. Maybe later, Emmett will let me jump him again," she said with a wink.

I groaned. "I really didn't need to hear that," I grimaced.

"You're such a prude."

"Am not," I defended.

"Are too."

"Jerk," I mumbled.

"Bitch," she shot back with a smile.

I stopped in front of the door that led to the dining room, and Rose did the same.

I looked at her nervously. "Are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," she replied.

I sighed. "Alright, here we go."

And I opened the door.

**A/N: I bet you want to slap me for stopping there, huh? LOL**

**Oh, well. It's my duty as a writer to keep you wanting more. ;)**

**As a way to cheer myself up, I read a super funny fanfic.**

**If you want a lot of laughs, you should check out **_**Awkwardly Yours **_**by Vancouver-Canuck-Girl. Seriously, this story had me in stitches. For the safety of your computer, don't eat or drink anything while reading it, if you decide to check it out. :)**

**See you soon!**


	12. The Dinner - Part 1

**A/N: Thank you for all of your reviews. You were probably swearing at me for I left the last chapter. LOL. ;)**

**I've decided I'm going to split The Dinner chapter into 2 separate ones.**

**Since I left you with a cliffie, I'm not going to write a long AN. So, let's find out what happens. In the first half anyways. :)**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns **_**Twilight.**_

**Chapter 12 - The Dinner- Part 1**

**BPOV**

As the door opened, I saw Esme, Emmett, and Edward, stop talking and turn towards us. As Rose and I walked further into the room, they all stood up to greet us. Emmett was the first to reach us.

He scooped Rose and I into a massive hug, and after he let go, he said happily, "Bella! Rose! Glad you could make it."

"Thanks for inviting us."

Before he could reply, Esme walked up to me and gave me a motherly hug as she said, "You are always more than welcome here, Bella. It's good to see you again." She released me and turned to Rose. With a smile, she greeted, "Hello. You must be Rose. My son mentioned you earlier. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Rose smiled back at her. "Thank you for having me."

"It's our pleasure, dear," replied Esme. She then turned towards Edward, who was standing next to Emmett. "Edward, come over here and say 'hello' to Bella and her friend while I go check on the food and see what is taking my husband so long." Then she turned to us again and added, "I'll be right back."

As she left the room, Edward began to walk over to us while Emmett sat down at the table and watched us with a tiny hint of a grin.

I rolled my eyes at him and thought to myself, _"I'm glad someone finds this situation amusing."_

As Edward got closer, that strange static sensation I had felt in his office, returned. It was weird.

When he finally reached us, I noticed that he had a small smile on his face. "Bella," he greeted with a nod, "it's good to see you again."

"Wish I could say the same," I replied flatly.

His smile faltered a little, but he fixed it as he turned to introduce himself to Rose. He held out his hand for her to shake and said, "Hello. I'm Edward Cullen."

Rose looked down to his hand, but made no attempt to take it. When she raised her eyes to his, he visibly flinched as she glared at him. "I know who you are," she sneered.

Emmett and I watched with wide eyes as Edward lowered his hand and took a step back, his eyes holding a mixture of surprise and fear.

I don't blame him. An angry Rose is definitely something to be afraid of. I almost felt bad for him.

'Almost' being the key word.

I still wasn't going to forgive him just yet.

We continued to watch as Rose would take one step forward while Edward took one back. They did this until Rose had Edward up against a wall. Then she really gave him a piece of her mind.

"Look, let's get something clear," she began, "I realize that I don't know you, but I don't like you. I know about what you did to Bella back in high school. I also know that your parents have no clue about what went on between you two back then. I may have only just met them, but I can tell that they're nice people, and I like them. I would really hate for them to find out that their wonderful son was complete douchebag to a girl they thought of as a daughter. And not only that, but that your choices helped drive her out of this town.

And don't forget about Charlie. I'm sure he'd just _love_ to hear how you treated his daughter. But just so you know, if you fuck up and hurt Bella again, they're not the ones you'd have to worry about. I am. I think of Bella as my sister. And _no one_ messes with my family and gets away with it because-" she leaned forward and began to whisper something his ear.

Whatever she said must have been bad because his face went slack, and all the color drained out of his face.

Rose took a step back from Edward and snapped, "Do I make myself clear?"

Edward nodded and answered, "Crystal."

"Good," said Rose, and then she walked back over to me. I arched an eyebrow at her and she shrugged. "What?" she asked innocently.

"What the hell did you whisper in his ear? He looked like he was about to piss himself," I said.

Rose smirked at me. "Don't worry about it. I think I got my point across to him."

I nodded in agreement as we watched Emmett get up and walk over to Edward. With a grin on his face, he clapped Edward on the shoulder and chuckled, "Dude! She just ripped you a new one."

Edward smiled grimly. "Yeah, I got it," he said sarcastically.

Emmett chuckled again. "That was awesome. I think that totally beat the time I punched you in the face."

"I'm glad my suffering amuses you."

Woah, back up a second.

_His _suffering? Now _I_ was the one who was pissed. He doesn't know what suffering is.

But he will.

**A/N: Rose really let her inner bitch out with Edward. And Emmett, as usual, found an uncomfortable situation amusing.**

**And it seems like Bella is feeling a bit vengeful.**

**There will be more Emse and Carlisle in the next half, too. **

**I will try to get the other half posted tomorrow, but if I don't, then it will be posted the day after.**

**See you soon!**


	13. The Dinner - Part 2

**A/N: Thanks for all of the reviews. It makes me so happy to know that people like my story. :)**

**Alright. Let's get on with the rest of the dinner.**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns **_**Twilight**_**.**

**Chapter 13 - The Dinner - Part 2**

**BPOV**

I was pulled from my vengeful thoughts when the door to the dining room opened. Esme and Carlisle walked in carrying large trays of food. As they walked over to the table to set them down, I walked over to them and asked, "Is there anything else left in the kitchen that needs to be brought in here?"

Esme smiled at me. "Actually, there's just one more tray of food and a couple bottles of wine that are left, but don't worry about it. You're our guest and I don't want you to trouble yourself."

I smiled at her and said, "I don't mind helping. Besides, I'm sure you and Carlisle could use a break. I know how tiring it is to stand in a kitchen and cook all day, and I bet Carlisle is exhausted from his shifts at the hospital."

Edward slowly made his way over to us. "Bella's right. You're probably tired. I could go with her and carry the tray of food while she grabs the wine," he offered.

I felt like banging my head against the wall repeatedly. Aside from being polite by offering to help, I also wanted a few minutes to myself. But no. As usual, life had other plans for me.

When I thought Carlisle and Esme weren't looking, I flashed an irritated look over to Edward. The corners of his mouth twitched as if he were trying to surpress a smile. Unfortunately, Carlisle caught our little exchange. "Actually, I'm sure Bella can handle it. The tray is small and the bottles aren't very heavy," he said.

I gave him a grateful smile and he winked at me. "Yeah. I'm sure I can handle them myself."

I know he's clueless when it comes to the issues between Edward and I, but being a doctor, he can read people very well. I know he could sense that I needed a few moments to myself.

I internally groaned when Esme piped up, "Nonsense! That tray may be small, but unlike the bottles of wine, it _is_ heavy. She'll need help." Carlisle went to speak up for me again, but she cut him off. "Besides, they've only seen each other briefly since she's been back. It will give them a few minutes alone together."

Carlisle sighed in defeat. "Yes, dear," he said as he gave me an apologetic look.

Edward grinned at me. I glanced over at Rose, who was glaring at Edward. When he looked over at her as well, the grin he wore disappeared. He then ran his fingers through his hair nervously and said quietly, "I guess I'm helping you after all."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Great," I said with fake enthusiam.

We began to walk out of the room and once we were out of earshot from the others, Edward spoke. "So," he began, as we walked to the kitchen.

"What?"

"Um, that's your friend, huh?" he said awkwardly.

"Yeah," I said. "She's my _best_ friend."

A look of pain crossed his face at the term and then disappeared as he nodded. "She's scary."

I nodded. "Only when she wants to be," I replied with a grin.

"Emmett seems to like her."

I snorted. "You have _no_ idea." He just looked at me with a confused look on his face.

"I'm missing something, aren't I?"

"Yeah, but it's not my place to tell you," I told him as we reached the door to the kitchen.

Edward smiled sadly and looked away from me. "There was a time when you used to tell me everything."

Not wanting to start something, I ignored his comment and changed the subject. "So, when do you want me to come in for another interview?"

The subject change caught him by surprise, but he said, "Um, how about Monday?"

Today is Saturday, and I had been thinking about taking Rose to First Beach tomorrow, so Monday was good for me.

"Monday is fine," I answered.

"Good."

We walked into the kitchen and got the tray of food and the bottles of wine and silently made our way back to the dining room.

I opened the door and let Edward go first, since he was carrying the heavy tray of food. As we walked over to the table to set our items down, Esme smiled at us, and said cheerfully, "I hope you two don't mind, but we kind of switched up the seating a bit. Emmett wanted to sit by Rose, and Carlisle is sitting by me of course, so the both of you are going to be sitting next to each other."

Fuck. My. Life.

I looked over at the table and sure enough, the only spots left were right next to each other. When I glanced over at Emmett and Rose, Emmett wore a big grin on his face, and Rose looked over to me with an apologetic look on her face.

I plastered a fake smile on my face and glanced back at Esme. "That's fine," I lied. "It'll be just like old times." I turned around and as I walked over to the empty seats, a thought struck me.

I grinned to myself and sat down across from Emmett, leaving the seat across from Rose, empty. That way, every time Edward would have to look up from his food, he'd have a nice view of Rose's glare.

Edward sat down slowly, clearly uncomfortable with the arrangement. If he thought he was suffering before, he was wrong. This is just the beginning.

The rest of dinner went smoothly, although that probably had something to do with the wine. As much as I wanted to drink myself silly, I couldn't because I had to drive us home, so I only had one glass. Rose and I were asked a bunch of question about how we met, what Florida was like, our families, and school. The usual stuff.

After our stomachs had settled, Carlisle stood up and said, "I think it's time for dessert."

"What is it?" I asked.

"Esme made a chocolate cheesecake."

"Yummy. One of my favorites."

"I know," said Esme. "That's one of the reasons I made it. I remember how much you loved my cheesecake."

"Thank you."

She smiled at me. "You are very welcome."

Carlisle went and got the cheescake and we all had a slice. It was delicious, and it tasted just like I remembered.

After we had all finished eating, we all helped take our dishes and the rest of the food into the kitchen to wash and put away. I made sure to grab some leftover food to take home to Charlie. It was getting late, so we wrapped up the evening.

Before we left, we gave everyone a hug. And to keep up appearances, we even hugged Edward._ That _was awkward.

Esme and Carlisle both told us that we have to come to dinner again sometime soon, and we agreed to it. Then we said our goodbyes and went home. Once there, I put Charlie's food in the fridge for him since he wasn't home yet, while Rose went upstairs to get ready for bed.

I was hungry again, so I made myself a quick snack before going upstairs and getting ready for bed. Rose was still awake, so I asked her, "So what do you want to do tomorrow?"

"I don't know. What's fun to do around here?"

"Not much," I admitted. "But I was thinking that maybe I could take you up to First Beach in La Push. We could go surfing, or at least attempt to, or we could just swim." I thought for a moment. "Actually, scratch that. I forgot that we would need to wear wetsuits to do that because the water is really cold up here. I really don't feel like driving all the way to Port Angeles to get them. We could just hang out. Maybe Jacob and some his friends will be there. They sometimes have bonfires when it gets dark."

Rose yawned. "Sounds like fun."

"It is," I replied.

"You know what else sounds like fun right now?"

"What?"

"Sleeping."

We chuckled. "Fine. Point made."

We soon drifted off to sleep, thinking of what tomorrow might be like.

**A/N: So how was it? I had a bit of trouble with this half, so it's probably not my best.**

**So, it seems like Emmett's plan kind of worked so far. Bella and Edward got stuck together not once, but twice with a little help from Esme. And they also managed to set up another interview.**

**Rose and Bella are going to visit First Beach in the next chapter. :)**

**So I was thinking. For every 75 reviews this story gets until it's finished, I'd like to write an outtake. I was thinking about maybe doing some on certain events in this story that I didn't really focus on. For instance, Rose and Emmett's first encounter, and how Carlisle and Esme found out about Bella leaving. That sort of thing. Adding them to the end of the story or making them like a separate story with a bunch of chapters would depend on the amount of reviews I get.**

**As of yet, it's just an idea. I'm not sure if I'm going to do it or not.**

**See you soon! :)**


	14. Beaches and Balls

**A/N: Thanks for all of the positive reviews for the last chapter. I got one review saying it was boring, but I did mention at the end that I had a hard time writing it, and that it probably wasn't my best work.**

**Oh, well. If anyone finds one of my chapters boring, please explain to me WHY it was boring, but please be polite about it. I would really like to know, so I can try and improve my writing skills.**

**Also, I would like to ask that if you leave me a review as a guest, that you please leave a first name, nickname, or other alias at the end, so I know who to address when leaving an answer to your questions in my next AN. Thank you.**

**We're going to meet the guys from La Push in this chapter. I'm giving you a heads up though. I'm not going to go into detail about their physical appearances. If you've seen the movies, just imagine them like that, only a few years older.**

**Anyways, on to the story.**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns**_** Twilight**_**.**

**Chapter 14 - Beaches and Balls**

**BPOV**

The next morning, Rose and I woke up early and got ourselves ready for a day at the beach. We then made our way down to the kitchen where we found my dad sitting at the table drinking a cup of hot coffee and reading a newspaper.

He looked up when he heard us walk in. With a smile on his face, he greeted, "Morning, girls."

I walked over and gave him a hug and kiss on the cheek. "Morning, Dad."

"Good morning, Charlie," greeted Rose, as she got herself a cup of coffee. After she finished with the coffee, she sat down across from my dad, while I grabbed myself a cup and made my way over to sit next to them.

My dad took a sip of his coffee before saying, "You girls are up early today. You two do realize it's Sunday, right?"

I rolled my eyes at him while Rose just grinned. "Yeah, we know that," answered Rose. "Bella is taking me to the beach."

"Sounds like fun. Which beach are you guys going to?" he asked.

"First Beach," I answered.

"Well, I'm heading up to La Push in a little while to go fishing with Billy, so I can drive you two up there if you want."

"Thanks for the offer, but I figured that if there was going to be a bonfire tonight, that we'd stay for a little while, so it's better if I just drove us up there."

Charlie shrugged his shoulders and took another sip of coffee. "Okay," he said nonchalantly.

I grinned at him. "Besides, I really don't think that Rose would like being driven around in the back of a police cruiser again, even if she wouldn't be handcuffed this time." I joked.

Rose's eyes went wide. "Bella!" she hissed.

Charlie raised an eyebrow at us and asked, "Do I even _want _to know?"

I snickered. "Let's just say that back in college, she had a bit too much of tequila, and decided it would be fun to streak across the football field, and ended up handcuffed in the back of a police car."

He grinned and chuckled to himself. "That's not so bad. I found myself in a similar situation once."

Rose and my father both burst out laughing at the look of horror on my face. "Oh my god! That is something I could have gone my life without knowing," I whined.

Once they had calmed down, my dad decided to change the subject. "So, how was your dinner at the Cullen's last night?" he asked.

"It was..." I struggled to find the best word to describe it. I mean, sure, it was wonderful to see Esme, Carlisle, and Emmett again, but if I'm to be honest, I didn't enjoy it as much as I should have, thanks to Edward. The majority of the time, I felt more negative feelings than I did positive. I had felt nervous, awkward, angry, uncomfortable, sad , and irritated. "It was good," I lied.

Charlie nodded. "Glad to hear it." He looked over at Rose. "What did you think of the Cullen's?

She smiled at him. "I really liked them. They're really wonderful people."

"They sure are," he agreed. "Oh, and before I forget, thanks for bringing some food back for me, Bells. It was delicious."

"No problem."

He went back to reading the newspaper and when he was finished, he set it down and stood up. "Well, I'm gonna get going," he said as he carried his cup over to the sink. "You two have fun at the beach. If you get home after I've gone to bed tonight, I'll see you sometime tomorrow."

"Okay. I actually have another interview at the high school tomorrow, so I'll most likely see you sometime after noon."

Charlie gave me a confused look. "I thought you already had an interview?"

"I did, but it didn't go so well," I replied. "My nerves kind of got the best of me," I lied. Well, it was only a partial lie. I really was nervous, but my dad didn't need to know the rest right now. "Edward was kind enough to give me another chance though."

"That's good," he replied, putting an end to that conversation. He walked into the living room and grabbed his fishing gear out of the closet near the door. Then he walked to the front door, opened it up, yelled 'see you later', and then left.

Rose and I finished our coffee, and then I made the both us some breakfast before packing up a lunch to take with us to the beach. We then gathered whatever else we wanted to bring with us and packed everything into the back of the truck before making our way to First Beach.

As we pulled into the parking lot, we could see some people out in the water surfing, and some other people on the beach playing vollyball. We got out of the truck and grabbed our things and walked over to where a few lounge chairs sat empty.

As we got ourselves comfortable, Rose took a good look around the beach and said, "This is a nice beach. The view is really great." The view she was talking about wasn't the beach itself, but the group of shirtless men playing vollyball.

I rolled my eyes at her. "Well, it's definitely not like the ones in Florida, but on the bright side, we don't have to worry about over-crowding or burning our feet on the sand," I replied cheerfully.

Rose grinned at me. "Good point." She looked through her beach bag and pulled out a bottle of sunscreen. She held it up and asked, "Do we even need to put this stuff on up here? Because, I don't really see how we could get sunburn when it's not even sunny."

I thought about it for a moment. "I'm not sure. I can't really remember if I ever had to before when I had been here." I shrugged. "It's probably best if we do, though. I think I read something about even how if it's not sunny, the light reflects off the water and intensifies the UV rays, causing sunburn. I could be wrong though."

Rose looked at the bottle and shrugged. "Eh, I'm not going to take any chances. Sunburn hurts like a bitch." She walked over and sat down on the edge of my chair with her back to me. "Will you do my back for me?"

She handed me the bottle and I squirted some of the lotion in my hands and began to rub it on her back. When I finished with her back, I handed her back the bottle and let her do the rest of her body. Once she was done, she told me to turn around so she could do my back for me. She finished her task and then got up and went to sit down on her own chair while I finished covering myself with the sunscreen.

We each grabbed a book from our bags and layed back to relax and read. About 20 minutes later, we heard someone from the vollyball court, yell, "Hey! Heads up!"

Just as I looked up, I got hit in the head with the ball. I grabbed my head and said, "Ow!"

Rose threw her book down and ran over to me. "Oh my god! Are you okay, Bella?"

I grimaced. "Yeah." I groaned, "Fuck, I forgot how hard vollyballs were. I thought my days of getting hit in the head with them ended when I graduated high school."

Rose chuckled, but before she could say anything, we heard a bunch of footsteps quickly moving towards us. We both looked up and saw the guys who were playing vollyball approach us.

My vision was a tiny bit blurry, so I didn't realize I kind of knew them until I heard a familiar voice ask, "Bella?"

As one of the guys got closer and my vision refocused, I saw that it was Jacob Black. "Shit! Are you okay?" he asked, his voice filled with concern.

I nodded slightly, and gave him a tiny smile. "I will be. Sadly, it's not the first time I've been hit in the head with a vollyball, although the last time it happened, I was still in high school."

He looked at me warily. "Are you sure you're okay? You don't think you have a concussion do you?"

I let out a small chuckle. "Yes, I'm okay, and no, I don't have a concussion. Trust me, I'm fine," I replied. "By the way, it's nice to see you again. I was kind of hoping to run into you here."

A big smile crossed his face. "Really?" he asked happily.

Before I could respond, a throat clearing, interrupted me. "Dude, you know this chick?" asked one of the guys.

"Yeah," he replied. "Guys, this is Bella Swan, Charlie's daughter."

The guy smiled and asked, "So, you're Bella, huh?"

"Yep."

"Sweet. You probably don't remember us." He pointed to himself and said, "I'm Quil Ateara, and this is-" he began to point to each of the other guys, "Paul Lahote, Sam Uley, Embry Call, Seth Clearwater, and Jared Cameron."

I gave them all a small wave and said, "Hi."

"Sorry about the ball, Bella," said Seth with a sheepish grin on his face.

"Don't worry about it," I dismissed. "I'm fine." I looked over to Rose, who was just standing there watching the men. I waved her back over to me, and said, "By the way, this is my best friend, Rose."

I introduced her to them, and they all greeted her with smiles and 'hello's'.

I asked them if they were going to have a bonfire tonight, but they said it was supposed to rain later, so we just ended up hanging out and having fun. They even let us watch as they took turns cliff diving off a small ledge that hung over the water.

After each one had taken a turn, they tried to get Rose and I to jump too. Since it would have been off a very low cliff, it was only about a 30 foot jump, but we both declined.

Jake, wanting to have some fun, kept bugging Rose about it, until she finally had enough and snapped at him, "Hey! I already said 'no' like 20 times. Knock it off before I La Push you off a cliff."

That made us all snicker. Jake just grinned at her and replied, "Nice comeback, Blondie. It was very original."

She rolled her eyes at him. "Whatever," she shot back. "Just...go away."

They weren't being mean to each other. We all knew they were just messing around and teasing each other. That's basically what the two of them did while I sat and read my book, or chatted with the other guys, until it was time for us to go home because it had started to rain.

Before leaving, we made plans to hang out again soon, said our goodbyes, and then we went home. We both took turns taking a shower, we had dinner with my dad and told him about our day, and then we went to bed, wondering about how my interview would go tomorrow.

**A/N: This chapter was kind of a filler. I needed a tiny break from the drama. I know the end of this chapter is pretty weak, but I just wanted to wrap it up faster.**

**See you soon!**


	15. Interview Number 2

**A/N: Thanks for all of the reviews. We've reached 200! Yay! :)**

**Just to let you know, I'm not a teacher, so I don't actually have an idea of what an interview would be like. I like to keep my stories pretty realistic, but in this case I'm going to use my imagination and info I find on the internet for the questions. Hopefully, it will turn out okay.**

**Well, on to the interview!**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns **_**Twilight**_**.**

**Chapter 15 - Interview Number 2**

**BPOV**

I'm currently on my way to Fork's High School for my second interview. I'm kind of nervous about it, but my nerves aren't as bad as they were the first time. At least this time, I know who I'm speaking with.

Even though I really don't want to be around him, and despite what he's done to me in the past, I still manage to find a small bit of comfort knowing that I'm doing this with Edward, and not someone I don't really know, otherwise, this would be much more difficult.

I pulled into the parking lot and parked my truck. I got out and started walking up to the building, thinking about how much I wished Rose had come with me. I asked her if she wanted to come with, but she politely declined the invitation. Now that I think about it, 'politely' isn't really how I should have described it, because she basically told me to 'grow up and grow a pair, and get it over with.'

Instead of coming with me, she wanted to 'explore' the town some more, so I had dropped her off in the middle of town on my way here.

I reached the doors to the entrance and walked inside. I once again made my way down the creepy hallway to the office and walked over to Gina, the receptionist. When I reached her, she looked up from her work and said, "Hello, Miss Swan. It's nice to see you again."

I smiled at her. "Thanks," I replied. "It's nice to see you, too."

She returned my smile, and pushed her chair back. "Let me go see if Mr. Cullen is ready for you. I'll just be a moment."

As she disappeared around the corner, I took the time to really check out the office. I hadn't really noticed it the first time, but it hasn't changed a whole lot. The desk was bigger, the computer was brand new, the walls had been repainted, and the chairs were new, but other than that, nothing had changed since I was a student here. It made me wonder just how much other things might have changed.

When Gina returned, she told me that Mr. Cullen was ready for me and to head on back. I thanked her again, and did as she said.

When I reached the door to Edward's office, it was wide open and I could see him sitting at his desk, looking at something on the computer. I knocked on the door to announce my arrival. He looked up at me and grinned. "Hey, Bella. Come on in."

"Okay. Do you want the door open or closed?" I asked as I stepped inside.

He thought for a moment before replying, "It's up to you. Although, if you're planning on running away from me again, it would probably be easier if it was open," he joked.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Very funny," I said sarcastically. I left the door open and walked over to his desk and sat down. "Let's just cut to the chase and get this over with, please."

His grin slowly disappeared. He looked kind of hurt and...disappointed?

What was that about? Was he just expecting us to act like we were friends again all of a sudden? If that's the case, then he's very wrong.

"I'm sorry," Edward said quietly. "I was just trying to lighten the mood."

I sighed. "Whatever, let's just...get on with the interview."

Edward took a deep breath and let it out. "Okay," he said. He picked up a pile of papers that had sat next to him and looked through them until he found what he wanted and placed them in front of him before setting the rest of the pile back down.

Curious as to what the papers were, I asked, "What are those?"

"One of them is your application and the other one is just a list of questions I have to ask you."

"Oh."

Edward looked down at the list of questions before glancing back up at me. "Well, I'm supposed to ask you about yourself first, but I kind of already know that stuff, and all of your education and requirement information is already on here, so I'm just going to ask you basic questions that are normally asked in interviews, okay?"

I shrugged at him. "Okay."

He nodded. "Alright, um, how did you hear about this position?"

Okay, that's an easy question. "My dad mentioned it during one of our weekly calls when I still living in Florida," I answered.

Satisfied with my answer, he moved onto the next one. "Why do you want this job?"

I didn't even need to think about it before I replied, "I want this job because it's something I'm passionate about. I love to read, and I love how I can experience and learn things by reading them from another person's point of view, and I want to share those kinds of things with others. I also believe that it's important to teach kids about the importance of literature and how it's shaped us and our society."

Without giving away how he felt about my answer, Edward said, "Next question. Why should I hire you?"

"Well, aside from the fact that I need a job and you're in desperate need of a teacher, I think I could bring something to these students, although what that 'something' is, I have no idea yet. I guess I can just really relate to them. I know what kids think about literature and writing these days, but I also know what kind of things can get them interested in it. And that's very important. These are skills that they'll need once they graduate," I explained.

He nodded his head at my answer and asked, "Have you had a job before dealing with these things?"

I nodded at him. "Kind of. I worked in a library down in Florida. I didn't just pull and shelve books, I also volunteered in a program to help kids learn to read."

"How do you think your former coworkers would describe you?"

I thought about it for a minute. "I'm not a mind reader, but I think they would describe me as hardworking, dedicated, and polite. Next question, please."

Edward looked down at the sheet and froze. "Is something wrong?" I asked.

He looked uncomfortable and totally ignored my question. He cleared his throat and asked quietly, "How do you feel about bullying?"

Huh. No wonder he's uncomfortable. If I had been a bully and I had to ask that same question to my former victim's face, I'd be uneasy, too. Oh, well. I guess Karma has decided to give me a little bit of help in getting back at him.

I pulled away from from my thoughts, and looked him straight in the eyes as I answered. "I think you should know the answer to that, _Edward_. Being a _victim_ of bullying myself, I know how hurtful it can be. I won't tolerate it. _At all_. It doesn't matter to me how big or small the problem is, there _will _be consequences," I stated strongly.

Edward nodded at me. "I agree with you. I'm going to hold an assembly when school starts, that every student will be required to attend, and they are going to be lectured on the topic of bullying. They need to be reminded that there are consequences for their action because they just don't think about how their actions can affect others, whether it's accidental, or on purpose." He paused and looked away from me. "I know I didn't," he whispered, as he stared at the wall as if he was in deep thought.

I know that I would normally feel bad about a comment like that, but not in this case. I just feel...angry.

I don't understand how he can sit here and say that he didn't think about how his actions would affect me. He _did_ think about them. I know that back then, I would tell him I was fine if he asked, but why else would he have kept apologizing for things, if he didn't think about how they made me feel?

The more I kept thinking about it, the angrier I was getting. The interview had been going fine so far, even though it was a bit tense. Now, all I wanted to do was get out here before I ended up doing something I regret.

Frustrated and angry, I didn't say anything about his comment, and instead I asked, "Do you have any more questions for me, or are we done?"

Edward shook his head as if to clear his thoughts, and grabbed the paper with the list of questions on it, and looked it over. "Um...that was the last question I needed you to answer."

"Great. I'm glad that's over with," I stated flatly. "How long will I have to wait until I know if I get the job or not?"

"It should only take a day or two," he answered. "If it was just up to me, you'd have the job right now, but I need to discuss this with the Board of Education first."

"Fine," I said with a nod. "Now, if that's all, I'd like to leave now."

Edward stood up from his chair and ran one of his hands through his hair again. "Um, actually, I was kind of wondering if you would like to have lunch with me, and maybe talk for a bit? If you're not busy?" he asked nervously.

I can't believe he just asked me that.

I glared at him and he took a step back. "No," I replied curtly.

"No, you're not busy, or no, you don't want to have lunch with me?"

"No, to both questions."

Edward frowned. "Why not? You just said you weren't busy."

I sighed and rolled my eyes at him. "I'm _not _busy. I just don't want to have lunch with you. That's something that friends or colleagues do, and I'm neither your friend, or your colleague right now."

He sighed and sat down. "Bella," he began, "we _really _need to talk about things. I don't want things to be so tense between us anymore, especially if we're possibly going to be working together."

"Don't worry, we'll talk. Now, just isn't the right time. When I'm ready to talk, I'll let you know. Got it?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Now that that's cleared up, I'm leaving now. I feel like spending the rest of the day with my _best friend_," I said coldly.

And then I turned around, and as I walked out of the door to his office, I told him, "Have a nice day, Edward."

I walked towards the front of the main office, bid Gina goodbye, and made my way to my truck. Once inside, I sat there for a few minutes while trying to process everything.

When I was ready to go, I started up the truck, pulled out of the parking lot, and went off to find Rose.

**A/N: So, what did you think? Did I do okay on this one? I'm kind of embarrassed to admit that I'm 22 and have never had a real job before, so I have no idea what an interview is like, so I really hope I did alright.**

**So, it seems like the darker side of Bella has made an appearance. I hope I didn't make her seem too bad. Remember, she's still a nice person at heart, but Edward really brings out the bad in her.**

**And I think I'm kind of starting to feel bad for Edward. He's trying so hard to be nice and fix things, but Bella's not having any of it. I told you she wasn't going to make it easy for him. ;)**

**See you soon! :)**


	16. EPOV - Guilt Trip

**A/N: Thanks for all of the reviews. :)**

**I know a lot of you wrote about how unprofessional Bella was, but since this is a story, she can get away with it.**

**On another note, one of my reader's Aurella, picked up on something that I don't think the rest of you did. She figured out that Bella's thoughts about getting back at Edward, could be classified as bullying. It is very subtle, like she said in her review, but it is there. And she's right. **

**Don't go telling me it's not true, because we haven't reached a point where it's super clear to see, yet.**

**We're going to hear from Edward in this chapter. I haven't felt very good the past few days, so it's going to be kind of short.**

**Anyways, let's get on to the story. **

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns**_** Twilight**_**.**

**Chapter 16 - Guilt Trip**

**EPOV**

As soon as Bella left my office, I leaned back in my chair and ran my hands over my face and sighed.

"Well, that went better than I thought," I muttered.

I sat back up and turned to my computer. I opened up a new document to write up my report on how the interview went to send to the Board of Education.

For the most part, I thought the interview went well. I'll admit, Bella didn't act very professional towards the end, but I left that bit out of the report.

I could probably get in trouble if anyone found out, but I know that she acted that way because of me. Besides, if _I_ was the root of the problem, then I don't think she'd have any reason to be unprofessional around the kids, since she'd be spending most of her time in her classroom and I would be in my office most of the time.

Sure, there would be times when we would run into each other, or have to be around one another, but I highly doubt that would happen without someone else being around. This _is_ a school after all. There are bound to be students or teachers around at all times, and I don't believe that Bella would act the way she did earlier when other people are around.

I wasn't lying to Emmett when he visited me, and I told him that I would be willing to give her her space. It was going to be hard, but at least I have another good reason to do so. By keeping our distance, the chances of a confrontation going down were lessened, and that's always a good thing.

At least for now.

I do plan to confront her about the past, but only when she's ready to talk.

I really don't want to push her again before she's ready. After all, that already blew up in my face when I asked her out to lunch to discuss things.

I'm trying really hard to fix things between us, but she's not making it easy for me. Not that I blame her.

I deserve everything she throws at me. Does it hurt? Yeah.

When she threw the fact that Rose was now her _best friend_ in my face, it hurt like hell, but I'm not going to complain about it. I'm responsible for the way things are between us now, and I have to live with that. But that doesn't mean I'm not going to do anything about it.

I'm willing to do whatever it takes, but giving up isn't an option. I don't want to go back to living without her in my life again.

I just hope that's not an option.

Half an hour later, I finished typing up my report, and sent it off. I took some time to work on some other stuff before I left the school and drove into town to have some lunch.

**A/N: I know it's short, but I like I said in the first AN, I'm not feeling well and I wasn't up to writing.**

**Oh well. As I like to say, "A short chapter is better than nothing."**

**On a better note, I've set up a Twitter account for my stories. It's an easy way to get updates on how the chapters I'm working on are coming and when I plan to post them. I just hope I can remember to update it. LOL.**

**Feel free to follow me and leave reviews or chat about anything related to my stories or FanFiction in general. **

**Because Twitter doesn't allow long names, I had to cut mine short, so if you want, look up TwiObsessed522 to find me.**

**See you later! :)**


	17. Trouble In The Town

**A/N: Thanks for your reviews. They were really interesting.**

**A few of you who left a review for the last chapter, disagreed on the whole 'Bella being a bully' thing. Like I mentioned in the AN, it's not super easy to see yet. It's very subtle. For now.**

**The way I see it, Bella is being an '**_**emotional bully'**_**. Bullying is not always physical. She knows Edward is trying to be nice and fix things, but she keeps hurting his feelings on purpose, which can be classified as emotional bullying.**

**Just a reminder, I've set up a Twitter account for my stories. Once I get a few more people following me, I'll start giving updates on how the new chapters are coming along and when I plan to post them. We can also chat about anything else involving Fanfiction. **

**My name on Twitter is TwiObsessed522. My profile pic is the same one I have on here.**

**Now, let's get to the story. :)**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns **_**Twilight**_**.**

**Chapter 17 - Trouble in the Town**

**BPOV**

As I drove through town, I figured it would be easier to find Rose if I could actually go _into_ the shops instead of looking through the windows, so I decided to park my truck on a side street, and walk around.

I went into a few different stores, and as I was walking out of the fifth one, I saw my dad pull up in front of Newton's Olympic Outfitters in his police cruiser.

_Huh, I wonder what my dad is doing there?_

I looked both ways before crossing the street and walked up to him as he got out.

"Bella? What are you doing here?" he asked with a surprised look on his face.

"I was actually looking for Rose, but then I spotted you over here and decided to come over and say hi."

"Oh. Okay, well, hi. And I don't think you need to search for Rose any longer." My face must have shown my confusion, because he added, "Um, I got a call from Mrs. Newton. Apparently, Emmett Cullen and a blonde woman that looks like a model, assaulted her son."

"What? How do you know this 'blonde woman' is Rose?" I asked.

My dad gave me a pointed look. "Really, Bells? This is Forks. Who else around here looks like a super model?"

I thought about it for a second. "You're right. Point taken."

"Good. Now that that's taken care of, why don't we go find out what happened?"

"Okay."

When we walked up to the store and opened the door, the bell above it rang, announcing our arrival. Mrs. Newton, one of the owners, rushed over to us.

"Oh, Chief Swan! I'm so glad you finally got here," she said, her voice was filled with worry.

He nodded at her. "Hello, Mrs. Newton. You called about a couple of people assaulting your son?" he asked.

Mrs. Newton nodded at him. "Yes. I don't know what happened exactly, but all I know is that this blonde woman and the older Cullen boy attacked my son."

Charlie took out his notepad and wrote down this information. He looked back at Mrs. Newton, and asked her, "How bad is your son hurt?"

"Well, we won't find out until he goes to the hospital, but I think he may have a broken nose. It just bled all over, but we managed to get it to stop for now." She sighed, her face showing concern for her son.

At the mention of blood, I felt sick. I've never been able to stand the sight of blood.

"There's blood?" I asked faintly.

Mrs. Newton whipped her head towards me, suddenly realizing I was there. "Oh! Bella, I didn't see you there. How are you, dear?"

"Well, I was fine...until you mentioned blood," I joked, giving her a small smile.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Are you going to be alright?"

I gave her a little nod. "I'll be fine. Don't worry about me."

Mrs. Newton looked concerned again. "Well, okay." Then she looked back at my dad. "I'll take you to the back room now, so you can do your job, okay?"

"I think that's a good idea, Mrs. Newton. Do you mind if Bella comes with? If I'm right, I believe the blonde woman is Bella's friend, Rose." he said.

"If it's alright with you, then it's alright with me," she replied, right before she turned around and led us to the back room.

Sure enough, as soon as I walked into the room, I spotted Rose. She was sitting next to Emmett wearing a scowl on her face, as she fussed over him. As I took a closer look at Emmett, I saw that he was beginning to sport a black eye and his cheek was starting to swell a little.

Rose was the first to notice us. The scowl on her face was now gone and was replaced by a guilty look. "Uh, hi, guys," she said sheepishly.

"Hey, Chief Swan. Hi, Bella," greeted Emmett with a small wave. He tried to smile, but it turned into a grimace, most likely from the pain.

Charlie nodded at them. "Rose. Emmett. You two mind telling me what went on here?"

"Yeah, that's what I'd like to know," I added as I stood there with my hands on my hips and a stern look on my face.

"They attacked me!" shouted Mike Newton. I jumped a little when he did it, because I didn't even notice he was in the room once I spotted Rose and Emmett. He looked a lot worse than I thought. He was holding an ice pack and towel against his face, to reduce the swelling and stop the bleeding. He didn't look at me or comment on the fact that I was there, so he either didn't care, or he didn't notice me. I think it was the second one, because his eyes were almost swollen shut from his injured nose.

Charlie turned around. "You," he said as he pointed at him, "Be quiet! I'll get to you in a moment, but I'd like to hear from them first. Got it?" he demanded sternly.

Mike Newton looked at the floor like a scolded child and quietly replied, "Yes, Chief."

"Good." He turned back around to face Rose and Emmett. "Alright, let's hear it. Rose, you go first."

Rose sighed. "Well, earlier today, I had Bella drop me off in town because I wanted to get a better feel for it while she was at her interview. I wandered around for a bit and went into a couple of stores, and then I ended up here. I'm not much of an outdoors person, but I wanted to see what they carried here.

I was looking at the different kinds of tents when all of a sudden, I felt a hand grab my ass. When I turned around, that guy-" she pointed at Mike, "was standing behind me with a stupid grin on his face. Then he began to try and flirt with me, and I told him I wasn't interested and not to touch me again. He walked away to do whatever he does, and I went back to looking around the store."

She took a deep breath and then continued, "A few minutes later, I hear the bell on door ring, but I didn't bother to look up and see who walked in because I was reading the label on something. A few seconds later, the same guy who grabbed my ass the first time, walked past me and did it _again_!

I started to chew him out for it, but he wasn't getting the hint that I wasn't interested, so I punched him in the face, hoping to get my message across."

"Okay, but how did Emmett get involved?" my dad asked her before looking over at Emmett.

Emmett glanced at Rose and asked her, "Is it okay if I take it from here, babe?"

"Yeah, that's fine."

"Okay." He glanced back at my dad and said, "I came to the store to pick up some things for my dad, when I spotted Rose standing in one the aisles looking at something. I started to make my way towards her, when I saw Newton walk past her and grab her ass. I was taught to respect women, so what he did made me angry. I was going to go over and talk to him, but I know that Rose can handle herself, so I just kind of stood nearby and watched.

She didn't even know I was there. I could hear everything they said though. Newton was trying to flirt with her, but she shot him down. But he _still _wouldn't stop bothering her, and before I knew it, she punched him.

The only reason I got involved is because, after she punched him, he raised his hand to her, as if he was going to hit her, so I ran over to them and grabbed his arm to stop him and he turned around and punched _me_.

I guess Mrs. Newton saw some of it though, so she told us to stay here while she called you. And here we are."

Charlie turned towards Mike. "Newton, is this true?"

We all turned to him, and Mike sighed and mumbled, "Yeah."

Then we all looked back at my father. He rubbed his hand over his face and said, "Well, the way I see it, Mike harassed Rose, and she was defending herself, and when things turned ugly, Emmett stepped in to defend her."

He looked at Rose. "Rose, do you want to press charges against him?"

Mike looked at her with wide eyes, but relaxed when she said, "No, that's okay. I really don't want to have to be around him again, if I can help it."

"Alright. I think we're done here, then. You, Bella, and Emmett, can go ahead and leave if you want. I'd like to have a more in depth chat with Newton about respecting women."

"Okay," Rose replied with a smile. "Thanks, Chief."

"You're welcome. Now get out of here and go have fun, or something," he dismissed.

Rose grinned at him before turning to Emmett and I. "You heard him, let's go. All of this has made me hungry. How about the three of us go out for lunch?"

"I'm game," replied Emmett.

"Me, too," I added.

"Awesome! How about we go to The Lodge, and you can tell us all about your job interview?"

Emmett grinned at me. "Yeah, I'd like to hear how it went this time."

"Fine," I sighed. "Are you two going to drive there together?"

They looked at each other before, Emmett shrugged. "I wouldn't mind that."

"Neither would I."

"Guess I'll meet you guys there, then." I started to walk away before I thought of something. "Hey, Emmett?"

"Yeah?"

"Didn't you say you were here to pick something up for your dad?"

Realization dawned on him. "Oh, shit! Thanks for reminding me."

I chuckled at him. "You're welcome. I'll see you guys in a few minutes. Bye."

"Bye!" they both said at the same time.

I looked both ways before crossing the street again, and walked to my truck. I got in, started the engine, and drove to The Lodge.

When I got there, the parking lot looked full, so I drove around to look for an empty space.

On the bright side, I managed to find two empty spaces, one for me, and one for Emmett's jeep.

On the downside, there was a car parked inbetween them.

It was a silver Volvo.

**A/N: So, how did you like it? **

**You have to love Rose. She punched one of Bella's former bullies in the face, and didn't even realize it. LOL. Bella did mention him when she told her story, but I guess Rose forgot about it. Or did she?**

**On another note, I want to make a couple of fic recommendations. They aren't finished yet, but they are really good so far. I'm not going to give summaries for them though. You can just look them up and read them for yourself.**

**Read My Lips by purplec305**

**Grad Night by RobzBeanie**

**This last one isn't a Fanfic, it's actually a 'book' I have on my Kindle Fire. It's a must have for those of you who want any kind of background info for the Twilight characters. It has everything you can think of, even for the little known characters.**

**It's called **_**The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide**_**. The cover photo has a red puzzle piece surrounded by black ones, if you're interested in it.**

**See you soon! :)**


	18. Dining Disaster

**A/N: Thanks for the great reviews. Some of them made me laugh. :)**

**I'm not going to write a long note because I know you probably want to get to the story now.**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns **_**Twilight**_**.**

**Chapter 18 - Dining Disaster**

**BPOV**

While debating on whether or not to pull into one of the spaces, or just leave, a car came up behind me and honked the horn impatiently, waiting for me to move.

Not wanting to blow off Rose and Emmett, I made the decision to pull in.

I parked the truck and turned off the ignition, but I didn't get out. I didn't want to go in by myself if Edward was there, especially after the comments I made to him before I left his office earlier in the day.

Call me a coward if you want, but I've been through a lot today, and I really don't want to deal with more crap. I just want to have lunch with my friends. Is that too much to ask?

Apparently, it is.

After Emmett and Rose arrived, we walked into The Lodge together. Luckily, we managed to find an open booth to sit in. Rose and I took one side, and Emmett took the other. Unfortunately, Edward noticed us there, and came over to see what we were up to.

But that's not the worst part. Emmett decided it would be rude to not invite him to join us, since he was here by himself, and the only spot open, was across from me. If I thought having to sit _next_ to him at his parent's house was bad, sitting _across_ from him was worse. I didn't want to have to see the pain in his eyes when he looked at me, but now, I had no way to avoid it.

It sucked.

We had just picked up our menu's when Emmett, decided to start up a conversation.

"So, Bella," he began, "How did your job interview go?"

I looked up from my menu and just as I was about to respond, a waitress suddenly appeared at our table.

She had long blonde hair, which was obviously dyed, and a fake smile plastered on her face. She looked about 6 months pregnant too. She looked kind of familiar to me, but I couldn't place her. At least not right away.

It only took me a moment to recognize her.

Jessica Stanley.

Another one of my former bullies. Now that's two in one day. How many more am I going to run into today?

"Hi! I'm Jessica, and I'll be your waitress today. Are you ready to order?" she asked, as if she didn't know who we were...well, she didn't know Rose, and she probably didn't remember me, but I know she knows Emmett and Edward.

Emmett started snickering, but I had no idea what he found so funny, and judging by the identical looks on Rose and Edward's faces, they had no idea why either.

I rolled my eyes at him and replied, "Actually, Jessica, we just got here. We'll need a few more minutes to decide."

"Okay," she said. "Do you know what you want to drink?"

"I'll have a Pepsi," I told her. Rose ordered a Diet Coke, Emmett ordered a Mountain Dew, and Edward ordered an Ice Tea.

After Jessica took down our drink orders, she left to retrieve them for us. When she came back and handed us our drinks, she stopped and stared at me for a minute before asking, "Do I know you from somewhere?"

Seriously? We had gone to the same schools together since kindergarten, at least until I left. Plus, she made my life miserable. I can't believe she doesn't remember me. She's even more of an airhead than I thought.

I gave her a fake smile of my own and replied sweetly, "I'm Bella Swan. Chief Swan's daughter? We've only known each other since kindergarten."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"Well, who did you hang out with? In school, I mean."

I glanced over at Edward, who shifted uncomfortably, and said, "I used to hang out with Edward, and sometimes Emmett."

She looked over at them, and when she saw the bruise on Emmett's face, which Edward hadn't seen yet, since he was sitting on his other side, she exclaimed, "What happened to your face?"

I had just taken a long sip of my Pepsi when Emmett smirked, and answered, "I got into a fight with your husband."

I was so shocked, I ended up spitting my drink across the table...and all over Edward.

"Shit!" he yelled, as he jumped out of his seat. He began to frantically wipe it off with some napkins, while Emmett and Rose and cracked up so much, they had tears in their eyes. And me? I'd be a liar if I said I didn't snicker a bit. Once I composed myself and Edward had given up trying to dry himself off, I told him, "I am so sorry! I was just surprised. It was an accident, I swear!"

Edward grimaced a little. "Uh, don't worry about it," he dismissed. "I know it was an accident."

"Hey! Now that you're all done laughing, you can tell me why you got in a fight with Mike," Jessica said angrily through clenched teeth.

Rose gave her an irritated look. "Why don't you call your_ husband _and ask him. I'm sure he'd_ love _to tell you all about how he groped me in his store today._ Twice_."

We all glanced at Jessica to see her reaction. I think we were all expecting her to be angry, but instead, she began to cry.

"He really did that? You're not lying?" she asked Rose quietly.

"Why would I lie about something like that? Besides, I have no reason to lie to you. I don't even _know_ you," she said softly.

Jessica sniffled. "Okay. I believe you. Mike has always been like that, anyways. I even know he's cheated on me before. But I stay with him. Not just because of the baby though, I really do love him." She wiped at her eyes. "God, I'm so sorry for getting mad at you and crying. My hormones are kind of crazy."

"That's okay. It's not your fault your husband is a douche," said Emmett.

Jessica glared at him, and Emmett held his hands up in surrender. "What? It's true," he defended.

She rolled her eyes at him and sighed. "I guess I should get back to work. Do you guys know what you want to order now?"

"I'll have a garden burger with fries," I told her.

"I'll have the same as Bella," replied Rose.

Emmett looked at the menu again. "Uh, I'll have two bacon cheeseburgers, one order of fries, and one order of onion rings."

"Is that it?" asked Jessica.

Emmett thought for a moment. "I guess I'll have a slice of pepperoni pizza, too."

I chuckled at him. "Wow, Emmett. You're like a human garbage disposal."

"What?" he asked innocently. "Defending a beautiful woman's honor, uses up a lot of energy."

Rose asked, "So, once you get more energy, what are you going to do with it?"

He grinned at her. "Baby, I can think of a lot of things to do with it," he said suggestively.

I wrinkled my nose at them. "Eww. We're sitting right here, you know."

He smiled and shrugged at me. "I don't mind a giving a little show."

"That's gross," said Jessica. She looked over at Edward. "Edward, what do you want to order?"

Edward looked away from Rose and Emmett's flirting. "Um, actually, I think I'm just going to leave. I really need to change my clothes." He reached down and grabbed his wallet out of his pocket, and handed her some money. "That's for the tea."

He stood up and and said, "Thanks for inviting me to have lunch with you guys. Maybe we can do this another time?"

Rose and I didn't say anything, but Emmett said, "Sounds good, bro. I'll see you later."

Edward smiled at Emmett. "You better. I want to hear what happened to your face." Then he turned towards Rose and I. "Ladies, have a nice day. You too, Jess."

"Bye," we all said to him, and then he turned around and left.

"Well, I'm going to go take these orders to the kitchen. Your food will probably be done in about 15 minutes," Jessica told us.

"Alright," I replied.

She left us to do her thing, and little while later, brought us our food. Rose, Emmett, and I, talked about a bunch of different things, including how my interview went. I left out the part where Edward asked me out to lunch. I already had to deal with that once. I didn't want to rehash it.

Jessica even came over and sat with us during her break.

I had to admit, it was kind of nice. She had really changed a lot since high school.

I also learned why she couldn't really remember me, and why she was nasty back then. Apparently, she had gotten into the habit of doing drugs back then, so her memory of that time is a little fuzzy. But after she just barely graduated, her parents found out and sent her to rehab. Now that I think of it, drugs did kind of fit with the way she acted back then.

I guess this is the 'real' her. It might actually be kind of nice to get to know her more. I could always use more friends around here.

After she went back to work, Emmett said, "So, you seemed to have forgiven her pretty quick."

I know what he was getting at. He was wondering how I was able to forgive Jessica so easily, when at the same time, I wasn't willing to do the same with Edward just yet.

I looked down at my plate of food, and played with some fries. "It's different with her," I answered quietly.

"How so?"

I set the fries down and pushed my plate away from me before looking up at him. "Because, now I know that she wasn't really herself, and that her behavior was mostly drug related. She couldn't really help it."

He nodded. "What about Edward?"

I sighed. "What about him?"

He shrugged. "What if he couldn't help it either?"

Rose watched us quietly.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "What are you saying?"

He shook his head. "I'm not saying anything."

"Then what are you getting at? Do you know something I don't?" I asked irritably.

"What if I do?" he asked.

"Then I want you to tell me."

He sighed and looked away from me. "It's not for me to tell," he told me softly.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Then what's the point of this conversation?"

"I'm just giving you something to think about. That's all."

I looked at him, confused out of my mind. "What are talking about?" I asked. "On second thought, don't answer that. I think I'm just going to go home now." I glanced at Rose, who was watching us curiously. "Do you want to come with me, or stay with him? Either way is fine with me."

"I think I'll stay here for a bit."

"Okay." I took some money out of my purse and set it on the table. "This should cover my lunch. Thanks for the invite."

And then I turned around and left.

**A/N: So, how was it?**

**What did you think of Jessica's character?**

**And what do you think Emmett is trying to tell Bella?**

**See you soon! :)**


	19. Club Eclipse - Part 1

**A/N: Thanks for all of the reviews again. There were a few similar questions asked, so I'm going to answer those the best I can without giving anything away for future chapters.**

**Firstly, some people didn't like that Emmett wouldn't tell Bella about something that he hinted at. The reason for this is because, he wants Edward to be able to tell her his secret himself, but Emmett also knows that Bella thinks Edward only hurt her to remain popular. He just wants her to think about the possibility that there may have been other reasons for what his brother did.**

**Secondly, some of you don't see why Bella would forgive Jessica so easily. Bella understands that a lot of Jessica's behavior in the past was due to her drug use. If any of you know someone who has had a problem with drugs before, you'll understand how they can change people. **

**It was also easier for Bella to forgive Jessica and not Edward, because she and Jessica were never close at all. Therefore, the pain that Jessica caused Bella, was nowhere near the amount of pain that was caused by Edward. Being hurt by someone you're close to, hurts far worse.**

**Lastly, concerning your theories as to what the secret is that Edward's hiding, I'm not going to tell you if you're right or wrong, because it would give away too much. I just wanted to hear what you thought. You'll just have to keep reading to find out. ;)**

**Before I let you get to the story part, I just want to remind you of something. This is all FICTION. Try not to take things in here so seriously. I do my best to try and keep things realistic, but if they don't turn out like that, I apologize.**

**And if you don't like what you're reading, feel free to move on to something else. I won't be offended at all. I understand that some things aren't for everyone. All you have to do is tell me that. You don't have to be rude about it. Thank you.**

**On to the story. There's a slight time jump here.**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns **_**Twilight**_**.**

**Chapter 19 - Club Eclipse -Part 1**

**BPOV**

_**5 Days Later (Saturday)**_

After I had left Rose and Emmett at The Lodge a week ago, I had gone home to think some more about the events of that day. I thought about my interview, the situation with Mike Newton, forgiving Jessica, having lunch, and most importantly, what Emmett had said.

The more I had thought about it, the more confused I became. I had no idea what he had been trying to tell me, and at this point, I wasn't sure if I wanted to find out. I had spent years thinking that Edward had hurt me for one reason. I was scared to find out what would happen if I discovered that hadn't been the case.

So I did what most people would do. I tried to keep myself busy, so I wouldn't think about it anymore.

It worked for a couple of days until I had gotten news that I got the job at the high school. I was so excited, but at the same time, I was nervous. I had spent the last couple of days trying not to think about Edward and whatever secrets he may be carrying, but now, it was almost impossible to stop. After all, once school started again in two weeks, I would most likely be seeing him everyday. But ever since that day at The Lodge, Emmett's words continued to plague my mind.

As for tonight, I was going to do my best to not think about it, but it wasn't going to be easy. To celebrate my new job, Emmett had invited everyone to hang out at his nightclub, Club Eclipse in Seattle, and that included Edward and two of his friends who had just come back from their honeymoon.

I wasn't too sure what I thought about that info. On one hand, Emmett knows that I don't like being around Edward, but on the other, I think that he would feel bad if he didn't include his brother in this.

Maybe it will be a good thing to have some of Edward's friends there too. Hopefully, they'll be able to keep him busy, instead of bothering me.

I sighed at the thought. I was currently standing in front of my bathroom mirror while I apply my makeup. All I had left to do, was add some lip gloss and I was done. Rose had curled my hair for me earlier, so I didn't have to worry about that.

We had gone shopping in Port Angeles the day before to look for dresses to wear for tonight. Rose bought a short silver dress, that looked like it was made up of broken glass. I bought a short black one that was covered in sequins.

I think we looked hot.

After we had finished getting ready, we took Rose's rental car, which she also got yesterday, to Emmett's club in Seattle.

We found a parking space one street over from the club, and we walked the rest of the way to it. There was a really long line to get in, but luckily for us, Emmett had told the bouncer to expect us, so when we walked up to him and showed him our ID's, he let us right inside.

As soon as we walked in the door, we were surrounded by writhing bodies and loud music. We held each other's hands so we wouldn't get separated, while we looked for Emmett and Edward in the crowd.

Not seeing them anywhere, I turned to Rose and yelled, "Rose, do you see them?"

"No!" she yelled back. She continued to scan the mass the people until she paused. "Wait! I think I see them over by the bar."

Since Rose was a few inches taller than me, she led me through the crowd, since she was able to see them more easily.

Once we reached them, I noticed a tall skinny blonde man, and a very small dark-haired woman, talking to Edward. I'm guessing those are the friend's Emmett invited along for Edward.

Emmett greeted us both with hugs, and since Rose had already been here before, he turned to me and asked loudly, "So, what do you think of my club?"

"I think it's really great," I shouted, trying to be heard over the loud music.

He smiled at me. "That's good to hear." He turned towards the two new people in our group and said, "Bella. Rose. I'd like you to meet Jasper and Alice Whitlock, Edward's friend's from college, and also your new colleagues at Fork's High School."

New colleagues? This was going to be interesting.

**A/N: Sorry for such a short chapter. I have a lot going on in real life right now, so I didn't have much time to write. **

**Because of that, this is going to be 2 parts. This is just the first half. **

**If I don't get the second part written and posted tomorrow, then you can most likely expect it the day after then.**

**See you soon!**


	20. Club Eclipse - Part 2

**A/N: Thanks for reviewing. I love hearing what you think. :)**

**I'm sorry for making the last chapter so short, but my grandmother is the hospital, so I've been dealing with that and a bunch of other things.**

**Anyways, here's the second half of it. Also, the songs mentioned in this chapter will be listed at the bottom. I'm not going to put the lyrics into the story though. So if you want to feel like you're there, just listen to them on youtube.**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns **_**Twilight.**_

**Chapter 20 - Club Eclipse - Part 2**

**BPOV**

I looked at Emmett, and asked him if there was somewhere a little quieter where we could talk and get to know Alice and Jasper.

"Sure thing, Bella. Just follow me." Emmett led us through the crowd and through a door that was on the otherside of the bar. Inside was a flight of stairs that led to a room up on the balcony with a glass wall, so people could see everything below.

We all sat down and took a minute to enjoy the break from the loud music. I was the one to break the silence first.

I looked at Jasper and Alice. "So, you two work at the high school, too?"

Alice nodded at me with a smile. "Yep. My husband Jasper, is a History teacher, and I'm one of the Art teachers."

"Cool." I turned and gestured to Rose. "Guys, this is my best friend, Rose. She's staying with me for awhile until she decides whether or not she wants to move here."

"Oh, really?" asked Jasper. "Where are you from Rose?"

She smiled at him. "I'm actually from Jacksonville, Florida."

"I bet you miss the sun, huh?" asked Alice.

"A little. It's really not so bad here."

Alice turned to me. "What about you, Bella? Edward told us you also used to live in Florida."

I glanced at Edward, who was busy talking to Emmett, before looking back at Alice and answering. "Yeah, I moved there right before my junior year of high school to live with my mom and stepdad. What else has Edward told you about me?"

"Not much, really. He just told us that you two were close, but I always got the feeling there was something more going on that he wasn't telling us."

"There was nothing going on between us, if that's what you mean," I said quickly as I glared at her.

Alice frowned a little. "It wasn't. But now I am a bit curious as to why you got so defensive just now."

"Alice, maybe you should just stop right there. I think you're starting to upset Bella, and tonight is about her, remember?" Jasper chastised.

Alice went to say something else, but changed her mind, and instead, told Bella, "I'm sorry. Jasper's right. I didn't mean to upset you. Sometimes I just speak without thinking, plus I've already had a couple of drinks, and that makes it a bit worse. So, sorry. Again."

I took a deep breath and let it out. "Fine. Apology accepted. But just so you know, Edward and I don't really get along that well right now, and our... _former_ friendship is a bit of a sore subject for me. Okay?"

She went to open her mouth to speak again, but Jasper spoke first. "She understands that, right Alice?" he asked her.

She nodded her head and frowned a little. "Yes."

I gave her a little nod and said, "Good." I looked over at Emmett and Edward, who were still busy talking about who knows what, and then glanced back to Alice and Jasper. "If you'll please excuse me, I'm going to go back down to the bar and get something to drink and maybe dance for a bit." I looked at Rose. "You want to come with me?"

"Sure."

"Alright, let's go," I told her, as I practically dragged her out of the room with me. We walked down the stairs and made our way to the bar, where a very cute bartender was mixing drinks. After waiting a few minutes for him to help some other customers, he finally got to us.

He flashed us a smile and said cheerfully, "Good evening, ladies. What can I get for you?"

"I'll have an apple martini," answered Rose.

I wasn't sure what I wanted, so I told him I needed a moment to think.

"No problem. I'll help someone else real quick and come back to you. Be right back, Beautiful," he said with a wink and a sexy grin.

I blushed and nodded at him.

"Oh my god! He was so flirting with you!" Rose exclaimed with a huge smile on her face.

"That's his job, Rose. Flirting with the customers helps get him more tips."

She rolled her eyes at me. "Whatever you say." She took a sip of her drink. "I think he likes you. He keeps looking over here at you."

"He's probably just looking at someone else over here," I dismissed.

Rose sighed at her. "Fine. Deny it all you want, but that guy has the hots for you," she said in a sing-song voice.

After the bartender finished serving another customer, he came back over to me like he said he would. "Have you decided what you want, Beautiful?"

I blushed again and told him, "Yeah. I'll have a gin and tonic, please."

"You got it." He made up my drink, but before he handed it to me, he asked me, "My name is Riley. What's yours?"

"Um, my name is Bella."

He chuckled. "Well, I guess I right to call you Beautiful, huh?"

I grinned at him. "I guess so." I glanced over at Rose, who smirked at me, with an 'I told you so' look. I turned my head back to Riley and said, "It was nice to meet you, Riley, but I think I should get back to my friends now."

"Okay, but before you go, can I maybe get your number?"

I smiled shyly at him. "I bet you ask all the pretty girls that?" I teased.

Riley shook his head. "Actually, I don't."

Rose and I both looked at him curiously.

"I, uh, don't really date much," he explained.

"Okay, but just so you know, I don't even live in Seattle, so finding time to get together would be kind of hard."

"Where are you from?" he asked me.

"Forks."

"I'm from Port Angeles."

"Then I guess, seeing each other wouldn't be so hard after all." I joked. "I'll see you around, Riley." I gave him my number, and after I said goodbye to him and began to walk away, my phone buzzed with a text, and a phone number. I look back at Riley, and he held up his phone and waved. I waved back at him before turning to Rose.

"Oh my god! I can't believe I just gave him my phone number."

"I told you he liked you."

"Who likes you?" asked Emmett, who seemed to appear from nowhere.

"The bartender," answered Rose.

"Riley?"

I grinned. "Yeah. He asked me for my number and I gave it to him."

"He's a good guy." he said.

I looked around him to see if the others had joined him down here, but I didn't see them.

"Where is the rest of the group?"

"Upstairs," he replied.

"Are they planning to join us, or keep to themselves?" questioned Rose.

Emmett shrugged. "I have no idea. I guess Alice has had a bit much to drink, so I guess Jasper and Edward are keeping her company until she sobers up a little."

I took a sip of my drink and responded, "Maybe it's for the best. You know how I feel about Edward, and while Jasper seems like a nice guy, his wife is a little nosy."

He shrugged at me. "She's not so bad once you get to know her."

"I'll take your word for it." I took another drink and I could start to feel a slight buzz starting to happen. "Let's forget about them for now and have some fun!" I finished the last of my gin and tonic and put the empty glass on a table nearby. "Let's go dance!"

About an hour later, Rose, Emmett, and I, were still dancing away, although slightly more drunk than before. We were currently dancing to Basshunter's 'All I Ever Wanted', when Rose leaned over and shouted at me, "I think your new boyfriend is on break and has decided to join you, because he's currently making his way over here."

"Riley is not my boyfriend!" I shouted with a tiny slur. No more drinks for me tonight.

"No, but he wants to be," she teased.

I glared at her. "Shut up!"

Before she could reply, a pair of hands grabbed me by the waist. "Hey there, Beautiful. Having fun?"

I turned around and told Riley, "Yes. A lot of fun. Dancing is a very fun thing to do. I don't do it a lot though because I usually end up hurting myself. Or others."

He smirked at me. "Are you drunk?"

I held up my hand with forefinger and thumb slightly apart. "Just a little."

Right after I said that, another song I knew came on. It was 'Chica Bomb' by Dan Balan. I was actually kind of surprised to hear it, since it wasn't very popular in the US.

I grabbed Riley's hand and pulled him closer to me. "Dance with me."

"Whatever you want, Beautiful."

We danced until the song was over, but I was having fun dancing with Riley, so I asked him if he could dance to one more song with me.

"I wish I could, Bella, but I have to get back to work. My break is over."

I pouted at him at first, but then I asked him, "Do you get another break tonight?"

Riley shook his head at me. "Sorry, Beautiful. That was my last one until I get off at 3 am." He looked at his watch. "Right now, it's about midnight. How much longer are you planning to be here?"

I frowned at him. "Not much longer, I'm afraid. My friends and I are probably going to start heading home soon. Maybe another time then?"

He smiled at me. "Definitely. I look forward to it. You'll certainly be hearing from me soon." He gave me quick peck on the cheek before turning around and walking back to the bar.

As I watched him do so, I felt like I was being watched. I looked around me, but no one was paying me any attention. So I looked up at the viewing area where Emmett took us earlier, and saw Edward standing at the window staring at me with strange look on his face. The only way I can describe it is a mix of anger and sadness.

But for the life of me, I couldn't think of a reason why.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts and headed over to where Emmett and Rose were dancing. I tapped Rose on the shoulder to get her attention.

"Oh, hey Bella. What's up?"

"I was just wondering when you wanted to head on home."

Rose looked up at Emmett. "What do you want to do?"

He shrugged. "Doesn't matter to me. If you want to stay a little longer, I'm sure Edward could probably give Bella a ride home."

Turning back to me, she asked, "Would that be okay with you? I mean, I know Edward's not your favorite person in the world, but maybe it won't be so bad."

I sighed loudly. "Fine. I'm too drunk to argue right now. I'm going to go ask him." Before I left them, I added, "You two owe me. Big time."

This was going to suck.

**A/N: What did you think of it? I've never been to a nightclub before, so I had to use my imagination for it.**

**So, it seems like Bella has a new guy friend. **

**Now, just to be clear, yes, Bella gave Riley her number after just meeting him, but he IS a good guy in this story, and Bella deserves to have a little fun, don't you think?**

**The songs I mentioned in this chapter are:**

_**All I Ever Wanted **_**by Basshunter**

_**Chica Bomb**_** by Dan Balan**

**If you live in the US like me, there's a small chance you've heard the Basshunter song, but Dan Balan is not a popular artist here. He's more popular over in Eastern Europe. I know of him because I like to listen to artists from other countries, even if I don't understand the words. I'm just weird like that. LOL.**

**See you soon! :)**


	21. Jealousy

**A/N: Hi everyone! Thank you for the reviews from the last chapter. I'm really glad Riley's character went over well. It's hard to introduce new characters to a story because you never know how people will react to them.**

**Sorry for the late update, but I've been pretty busy the last few days. To make up for it, I'm giving you a EPOV.**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns **_**Twilight**_**.**

**Chapter 21 - Jealousy**

**EPOV**

As Bella and I walked out to my car, I started to think about everything that happened tonight.

It was supposed to be a fun night for everyone to celebrate Bella getting hired at Fork's High School.

That being said, I was probably the only one who didn't have a good time. How could I? I was invited to a celebration for a person who hates my guts. In fact, she didn't even speak to me at all, until she asked me for a ride home.

But then again, I didn't go out of my way to talk to her, either. I wanted her to have a good time tonight and I know that I have a tendency to bring out the worst in her, so I did my best to stay out of her way.

I guess my brother figured that I'd do something like that, so he invited my friends, Alice and Jasper to tag along to keep me company. Emmett actually told me that he invited them because it would be a good opportunity for Bella to get to know some of her new coworkers, but I saw right through him. He did it for me.

I had met Alice after she had moved to Forks from Biloxi, Mississippi, a few months after had Bella had left. I found her to be a bit too hyper at first, but she just kind of grew on me, I guess. I never told her about Bella, but I did tell her about some of my other problems. She was one of the people who helped me when I needed it the most. Over time, I came to think of her as a sister.

Jasper moved to Forks from Houston, Texas, during our Senior year of high school. He and Alice hit it off pretty quick, and soon the three of us were hanging out together. Eventually, we all ended up going to the same college, and pursuing different types of teaching careers. Luckily for us, we were all able to get jobs at Forks High School.

I know that seems kind of unreal, but I guess the high school had decided to make some changes, such as hiring some new teachers and a principal. Like I said, we were lucky.

"Edward!"

I whipped my head towards Bella, startled out of my thoughts by her calling my name. She was standing on the other side of my car, looking at me with a irritated expression on her face. I didn't even realize we had reached my car because I too busy thinking.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"I've been trying to get your attention for last 2 minutes."

Really? I hadn't even heard her until a moment ago. I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts. "Uh, sorry about that. I was thinking about some stuff."

Bella rolled her eyes at me. "No kidding. You were quiet the entire way to your car, and when we reached it, you just kind of spaced out. It was kind of creepy."

I unlocked my car and got in, and she did the same. We put our seatbelts on and just as I put my key in the ignition, she blurted, "Wait!"

I looked at her. "What? Is something wrong?"

"I forgot to ask you if you had been drinking before I asked you to drive me home." She ran her hands over her face and muttered, "God, I'm such an idiot. I can't believe I did that."

I looked away from her and stared ahead. "I don't drink," I answered softly. When I glanced back at her, she looked surprised.

"At all?" she questioned.

I shook my head. "No. I used to, but not anymore."

Bella looked down at her lap and said, "Oh."

I could tell that she wanted to say something else, so I asked, "What? I know you want to ask me something, so just ask."

"Why don't you drink?" she asked me curiously.

As I opened my mouth to answer, she said, "You know what? Never mind. You don't need to tell me. It's none of my business anyways."

Not wanting to go into details, I simply told her, "I didn't have a drinking problem, if that's what you want to know. I just don't like how it makes me feel," I explained. I wasn't lying about that. Drinking just made me think of doing other things - things that had a role in ruining one of the best things in my life, and hurting the people I care about.

"That's understandable, I guess."

I hummed in agreement, started the car, and began the nearly 3 hour drive back to Forks.

The first half hour was spent in a peaceful silence. The only downside to that, is that it gave me even more time to think. More specifically, about what had happened after everyone else had gone to the bar and dancefloor.

**(Flashback to a few hours ago)**

_As soon as the other's left the room, I left Alice and Jasper's sides and walked over to the large viewing window and watched them, well, just Bella to be exact. Emmett had disappeared somewhere in the crowd of people, most likely chatting with someone, while Bella and Rose contined to walk to the bar._

_I had always thought that Bella was beautiful, but time had made her even more so. Tonight, she looked absolutely stunning._

_And I wasn't the only one to notice either._

_As I watched, I saw the bartender walk over to the two women and give them a flirtatious smile. I saw him speak to Rose first, and a moment later he handed her a drink. Then he turned to Bella, and spoke to her as well, but instead of giving her a drink, he went to deal with another customer._

_A few moments later, he made his way back over to her and began to talk. It was clear thet they were flirting with each other._

_The thought made me feel...I don't know...angry._

_But why would the sight of her flirting with someone make me feel that way in the first place?_

_We were nothing other than colleagues now. It shouldn't matter to me what she does, so why does it?_

_I couldn't stand to watch anymore, and I walked back over to to my friends. I let myself relax while I talked to them about whatever. After about an hour, Emmett, Rose, and Bella, hadn't come back up again, so I once again walked back to the window to look for them._

_I almost wished I hadn't._

_I spotted Emmett and Rose practically having sex on the dancefloor and right beside them, was Bella. With the bartender. Dancing._

_I began to feel angry again, but at the same time, I felt sad. Sad because, she looked so happy and carefree, like she did before I fucked everything up._

_I felt someone walk up next to me, and a quick glance revealed it was Alice. I turned around and looked for Jasper, but he wasn't in the room anymore._

_I turned back to the window, and without looking at Alice, I asked, "Where's Jazz?"_

_"He went to use the restroom."_

_"Oh."_

_"What are you doing?" she asked._

_I sighed and ignored her question, and instead, I told her softly, "If I had done things differently back then, that could be me right now."_

_She looked at me, puzzled. "What are you talking about?"_

_I just nodded towards the window and she followed my gaze._

_"Oh! You're talking about Bella."_

_"Yeah."_

_"You have a lot of history with her, don't you?" she asked curiously._

_"I do. To make a long story short, we used to be best friends. We did practically everything together." I took a deep breath. "At least until I ruined everything. Up until we had started high school, the two of us were often bullied. Bella was kind of overweight back then, and well, you've seen some pictures of me from around that time. I was pretty dorky looking._

_But the summer before we started high school, puberty kind of caught up to me and suddenly, I wasn't dorky anymore. When school finally began, I was approached by some of the popular kids, wanting me to join them._

_I figured, that if I was popular, maybe I'd be able to keep some of the bullies off Bella's back, but unfortunately, that plan backfired._

_I was stupid. I hated being bullied before things changed, and I didn't want to go back to that, so instead of trying to stop them from doing it to Bella, I joined them. I started to only hang out with her outside of school, and we never went out in public anymore. _

_Somewhere along the way, I got mixed up with drugs, and I started spending less time with her because I was too busy getting high. But when I wasn't getting high, I was with her. For whatever reason, she continued to be my friend, even though I didn't deserve it._

_I treated her so badly for almost two years, until I did something to her that she couldn't forgive, and as soon as school ended, she moved away without even telling me or my family._

_And then you came along, and you know the rest from there."_

_"Wow. Now I get why Bella didn't want to talk about you. Does she know you had a drug problem?" asked Alice._

_"No! And she's not going to find out until she's ready to talk to me."_

_Alice looked at me sideways. "Do you love her, Edward?"_

_I thought carefully before I answered. "I care about her. But I don't know if I love her."_

_Alice sighed and gave me a hug. "I really hope that one you can fix things and find out."_

_"Thank you, Alice."_

_"You're welcome," she said as she walked away._

_I went back to looking out the window and saw that Bella was now alone. As if she could feel my eyes on her, she looked up at me before turning and saying something to Emmett and Rose._

_A few minutes later, she came upstairs to ask if I could give her a ride home, and I agreed._

**(End Flashback)**

The rest of the ride home was quiet. Bella had fallen asleep about half an hour ago, so I decided to put on some soft music.

A while later, we had made it back to Forks. I dropped Bella off at home first, and then I went home.

I hoped I would be able to get a good nights sleep tonight, and not end up lying awake thinking about what Alice had asked me.

Do I love Bella? I'm not sure.

All I know, is that not only do I have to worry about fixing things with her, but now I have to figure out if I have feelings for her too.

**A/N: How did I do?**

**Well, Edward finally revealed what one of his problems was, although I suspect that some of you already figured it out. :)**

**Now, all he needs to do, is wait for Bella to talk to him, so he can tell her.**

**See you soon!**


	22. An Interesting Morning

**A/N: Hey everyone! Thanks for the awesome reviews. There were a few mixed feelings about Edward. Some of you are kind of feeling bad for him, and others...not so much. **

**Anyways, we have a tiny time jump here to get things moving forward a bit.**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns **_**Twilight**_**.**

**Chapter 22 - An Interesting Morning**

**BPOV**

_**(1 Week after the night of the club)**_

It was finally here.

The first day of school had arrived, and I was feeling slightly nervous. Today, I was going to be officially starting my career as an English teacher.

After getting up extra early to get myself ready and make sure I had everything I would need for today, I walked quietly down the stairs and entered the kitchen to make some breakfast.

I made some french toast, hash browns, and bacon. I also made a pot of coffee, too. Just as I sat down with my food, I heard heavy footsteps coming down the stairs, signaling the arrival of my dad.

"Is that bacon I smell?" he asked as he entered the room.

I grinned at him. "Well, good morning to you too, Dad."

He chuckled at me. "Sorry, Bella. It just smells really good in here."

"Thanks. There's some french toast and hash browns too."

"So you're up pretty early today," he said as he dished up his food. "Nervous?"

"A little," I replied with a shrug. "I just didn't know how much time I would need to get ready and make sure I had everything I needed, and I didn't want to take the chance of being late on my first day," I explained.

"Good thinking." He set his plate of food down on the table before turning back around to get a cup of coffee. After he got it and sat back down, he asked, "So, what time does your first class start?"

I swallowed a bite of food and answered, "It starts at 7:30."

Charlie looked at his watch. "It's only 5:30," he stated. "What are you going to do until then?"

I shrugged. "I'm not sure. I was thinking about sticking around until Rose wakes up, and then heading to the school early to kind of get a feel for the place again, and maybe meet some of the other teachers."

Charlie said, "It sounds like you've got everything thought out. I think you'll do just fine, Bells."

"Thanks," I said with a smile.

Charlie took a drink of his coffee and then asked, "So, what's Rose gonna do while you're gone?"

I smirked a little. "She's having Emmett take her job hunting."

Charlie raised an eyebrow at me. "Emmett, huh? She's been spending a lot of time with him lately," he observed.

I nodded at him. "Yeah. They kind of have a _thing_."

He grabbed our now empty plates and carried them over to the sink to rinse them off before loading them into the dishwasher. "A 'thing'? Is that what they call dating now?" he asked amused.

I snickered a little. "Well, they're not _officially_ together, I guess," I answered. "But they might as well be."

"Well, alright then. I'm gonna head out now." He walked over to me and gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Good luck and have a great first day, Bells. I'm working another double shift today, so you'll have to tell me how it went tomorrow night, okay?"

"Okay," I replied with a nod. "Have a good day at work, too. Be safe."

Charlie gave me a small smile and said, "Always am," as he turned around and left.

About 20 minutes later, Rose finally emerged from upstairs, freshly showered and dressed to impress. "Good morning," she said happily, as she walked over to me and sat down beside me.

Rose is not a morning person, so I'm guessing her good mood had something to do with the fact that she was going to be spending the day with Emmett.

"It certainly seems that way," I replied with an amused grin. "And I'm assuming it has to do with a certain Cullen."

Rose gave me a knowing smirk. "Maybe."

"I thought so," I chuckled. "What time is he coming to get you?"

"In a few minutes, actually." When I looked at her curiously, she added, "He wants to give you something before you leave for work."

"Really? What is it?" I asked cautiously. With Emmett, you never know what that guy has up his sleeve.

She shrugged at me. "I have no idea. He didn't say."

I sighed. "I really hope it's not another frog."

Rose started to laugh. "He gave you a frog? Did he know about your frog phobia?"

I scowled at her. "Yeah, on my 12th birthday, and yes, he knew about my phobia. He wanted to scare me because he thought it would be funny. He handed me a box with a bow on it, and when I opened it up, the frog jumped on me. It gave me nightmares for a month. I forgave him though, because I knew he was just trying to have some fun with me."

"Well, if it is another frog, I'll kick his ass for you, okay?"

"Or you can try and hold him, and I'll kick his ass," I quipped.

Just then, the doorbell rang. Rose looked at me and said, "It's a deal." She then got up and answered the door and let Emmett inside. As he walked over to where I was sitting, I saw that he had a giftbag in his hands.

When he reached me, he pulled me out of my seat and gave me a big hug. "Hey, Bella. Are you excited to start school today?"

A big smile spread across my face as I answered, "Yeah, but I'm a bit nervous, too."

"Well, don't be. You're going to be the best English teacher Forks High School has ever had. I know it. Those kids are going to love you. And besides, if you have any questions about something, you can always ask Jasper or Alice...and Edward, too," he added with a sigh. "Just do me a favor though, will you? If you have a problem that Alice and Jasper can't help you with, don't let your issues with Edward stop you from asking him for help, alright?"

I gave him a gentle nod. "Okay," I said softly.

He grinned. "Alright, now that we got that over with, I got you something for your classroom," he said cheerfully as he handed me the giftbag.

I gently took it from him, and held it up to my ear. I didn't hear anything moving inside of it, so I pulled out the tissue paper, to find...a large, fuzzy, stuffed apple, the size of a basketball.

I pulled it out of the bag and squeezed it to my chest. I loved it. "Thank you so much! I really love it. It's perfect!" I gave him another hug before stepping back.

"Well, it certainly wasn't a frog," stated a very amused Rose.

"A frog?" Emmett asked, his forehead wrinkling in confusion. "What does a frog have to do with anything?"

Rose smirked at me and turned to answer Emmett. "Bella told me how you gave her a frog on her 12th birthday as a joke, after I told her you were bringing her a gift."

Emmett's eyes widened when he realized what Rose was talking about. "Oh yeah! I totally forgot about that," he chuckled. "Who knows? Maybe you'll get one for your next birthday."

I glared and pointed at him. "You better not! If you do, I _will_ get you back. That's a promise."

He winked at me. "I'm not making any promises, Bella Boo."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Alright, I'm leaving right now before I hurt you." I turned to Rose and told her, "I'll see you later. Good luck with the job hunt."

I grabbed my stuffed apple and my purse, and left to start what I hoped would be a wonderful first day of school.

**A/N: I know, I know. You probably wanted to hear about her first day, but I didn't want to make this chapter too long, so the next chapter will be about that.**

**Also, I have no idea where the frog thing came from. LOL. I'm not afraid of them at all, in fact when I was younger, I used to catch bucket loads of them during the summer with my bare hands. Literally. I used to fill entire buckets with them. I love reptiles, too. Especially snakes. I was never able to have one as a pet though, because some of my family members were scared of them.**

**See you next time! :)**


	23. The First Day of School

**A/N: Hi everyone! As always, thank you for the reviews. We have reached over 300! You guys are awesome. :)**

**I've made you wait long enough to hear about Bella's first day as a teacher, so let's get to it!**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns **_**Twilight.**_

**Chapter 23 - The First Day of School**

**BPOV**

As I reached the school, I noticed that there were already quite a few vehicles sitting in the teacher's parking lot. It made me wonder if showing up an hour and a half before the first class period started was a normal, everyday thing, or if it was something that happened only on certain days.

I really hoped it was the second option. The only reason I had come early, was so I could make sure I had everything ready.

I got out of my truck and walked into the building, and made my way to my classroom. Once there, I straightened up a few things, and moved some stuff around until I was satisified with how everything looked. And as a final touch, I put the big stuffed apple Emmett had given me, right on my desk.

I looked over at the clock on the wall and saw that it was only 6:26. I sighed. I still had about an hour to kill before my class started.

As I was thinking about what I should do to pass the time, I was startled by a knock on my door, and squeeked in surprise.

I whipped my head towards the door and saw Edward standing there with a little grin on his face.

"Hey. I didn't mean to scare you."

I shook my head at him. "It's fine. Don't worry about it," I dismissed. "Did you need something?"

He shrugged at me. "Not really. I just wanted to let you know that if you wanted to meet some of the other teachers this morning, that most of them are in the teacher's lounge."

"Oh, okay. Thanks for letting me know."

"You're welcome," he said with a small smile. He looked around my classroom and said," Your classroom looks nice. You did a great job decorating it. I especially like the apple on your desk."

I thanked him again and told him that Emmett gave me the apple this morning.

He looked at me in surprise. "You saw Emmett _this morning_? What was he doing at your house that early?"

"He was there to pick up Rose. Now that I'm working, Rose won't have anything to do, so she asked Emmett if he could take her job hunting. Plus, he wanted to give me the apple and wish me good luck for today," I explained.

He nodded. "They do realize that most places aren't open this early, right?"

"Probably. If not, they'll figure it out soon. I'm sure they can find something to do until then," I answered.

He shuddered. "I don't even want to think about what those two could be doing."

I chuckled at him. "I agree with you on that."

"Alright, well, I'm gonna head back to my office. If you need anything, feel free to stop by and ask."

"I will."

He turned and walked out the door, but a second later, he returned. "Oh, and Bella? Good luck."

I smiled at him and said, "Thank you. Good luck to you, too."

He returned my smile and left without another word.

Looking at the clock again, I discovered that I still had about 45 minutes to kill, so I decided to walk down to the teacher's lounge and meet some of them like Edward suggested.

And as that thought crossed my mind, I stopped walking. It suddenly hit me that Edward and I actually had a _civil_ conversation without any hostility or sarcasm present. It was...nice. While I still haven't forgiven him for the past, this made me think that maybe I was on my way there.

I continued walking to the teacher's lounge and as I got closer, I could hear some laughter and talking. I walked into the room and immediately spotted Alice and Jasper standing in one of the corners, so I made a beeline for them first. I was already starting to feel a little nervous, so I figured that hanging with people I already kind of know, would make things easier.

"Hey, guys. What's up?" I said as I walked up to them.

"Hey, Bella." They both said at the same time before laughing a little.

"Are you guys getting nervous, yet?"

"Not even!" Alice replied cheerfully. "I am so excited!"

No kidding. She was practically shaking with excitement. I started to wonder just how much coffee she had had this morning.

I had to smile at her enthusiasm though. "I can see that." I turned to Jasper and asked, "What about you, Jasper?"

He grinned a little, and responded, "I don't really get nervous about much. How are you doing?"

"I am a little nervous, but I think I'll be okay. Thank you for asking."

I spent the rest of the morning getting to know Alice and Jasper a little more. I also met some of the new teachers and caught up with some of my old ones, like Mr. Banner, my old biology teacher, and Mr. Varner, who still taught math.

Before we all knew it, it was showtime.

We all began to make our way to our classrooms as the hallways started to fill with students.

When I got to my room, I sat down at my desk and waited for my new students to arrive.

**A/N: I hate to end this chapter right there, but unfortunately my laptop is having a lot issues right now and I have to take it to get fixed. **

**Since I'm not sure how long it will take to get it fixed, if I don't update in the next week or two, that's why. I know that's disappointing, but these things happen sometimes.**

**Hopefully, it won't take too long. **

**I really hope to see you soon! :)**


	24. The First Day of School - Part 2

**A/N: Well, I'm back. I ended up getting a new laptop instead of fixing the other one, and having my stuff transfered to the new one. It took a lot less time than I thought it would.**

**Thanks for all of your reviews. I apologize for not replying to them, but its difficult for me to do on my Kindle, and that was the only way I could access the internet during that time.**

**Anyways, you probably want to hear about the rest of Bella's first day, so here you go. Also, if you catch any typos, please let me know so I can fix them. I'm not used to this new keyboard yet. :)**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns **_**Twilight**_**.**

**Chapter 24 - The First Day of School - Part 2**

**BPOV**

After the second warning bell rang, signaling the start of class, I walked up to the front of the class and introduced myself.

"Hello, everyone," I greeted with a smile, "My name is Miss Swan. Welcome to English Literature 3. Before I explain what this class is about and hand out the syllabus, I'm going to take attendance real quick. When I call your name, please raise your hand and say 'here'."

After going through the list, I found that only one person was missing-a girl named Bree Tanner. I stood back up and began to pass out the syllabus when the door opened, and a brown haired girl walked up to me and handed me a late slip.

She stood there as I read it. This was my missing student, Bree.

I smiled at her and introduced myself to her before handing her a syllabus, and asking her to take a seat. When I turned my back to fix her attendance status, I heard someone whisper, "What a loser." The comment was followed by some snickers, but when I turned around and cleared my throat, it stopped.

"Just so we're clear, I _do not _tolerate comments like that, nor do I tolerate any kind disrespect towards others. If I catch anyone doing so, I _will not _give you a warning. You will be sent to the Principal's office _immediately_. Got it?"

They nodded.

"Good."

Before I could start going over the syllabus, the intercom system turned on, and Edward's voice sounded through it. "Good morning, everyone. This is your new Principal, Mr. Cullen, speaking. I just wanted to let you all know that you are to report to your second period classrooms and then make your way to the gymnasium for an assembly. You are to sit with your class, so your teachers can take attendance. This assembly is mandatory, so if you are found to have skipped it, there will be consequences. Thank you."

I spent the rest of the class period going over the syllabus and answering questions, and when the bell rang, I watched as my classroom emptied and refilled with a new set of students. I took attendance real quickly before we all walked down to the gym for the assembly.

Once there, I took attendance again to make sure my entire class was seated together, and then waited for the assembly to begin.

During the next 45 minutes, Edward introduced himself, and then proceeded to speak about expectations and regulations and of course, the consequences for not following them. He even introduced some new employees, and they weren't teachers. They were security guards named Alec and Jane. Edward explained that they would help enforce the rules, amongst other things.

After it was over, third period came and went, and then it was time for my lunch break. I walked to the cafeteria and bought a slice of pizza and a soda, and took them back to the teacher's lounge to eat and mingle.

As expected, Alice and Jasper invited me to eat with them. What surprised me though, was that Edward joined us, too. I wasn't expecting that. I guess I just figured he'd be busy since it was an important day.

"So, how is your day so far," he asked us.

I took a bite of my pizza before answering. "It's a little boring, since all we're doing today is going over stuff, but other than that, its going good."

"Yeah, same here," replied Jasper.

"I'm sure things will be more interesting tomorrow," Alice said enthusiastically.

"Yeah." I turned to Edward. "What about you? Give out any detentions yet?"

He grinned and shook his head. "Not yet, but I've already had a student sent down to me for talking back, so that's something."

"Who was it?" I asked curiously.

"A senior named James Hunter," he said.

"I have him in my first period class," I replied casually.

"Well keep an eye on him. According to his school records, he's quite the trouble maker. I have a feeling he's going to be a frequent visitor to my office."

I nodded. "Will do."

Conversation flowed easily for the rest of the lunch hour as we talked about different things. And when the bell rang, we went our seperate ways.

The rest of the day continued in the same fashion as it had earlier, and when the time came to go home, I couldn't get out of there fast enough.

I really wanted to go home and celebrate my first day of teaching with Rose, and most likely Emmett, since the two of them seem to always be together now.

I walked across the parking lot to my truck and drove to the store to pick up some stuff. An hour later, I got home to find my dad's cruiser, Emmett's jeep, and a couple of unfamiliar vehicles in the driveway.

I grabbed the bags of groceries out of my truck and walked to the front door.

I wondered what I would find when I opened it.

**A/N: So Bella's first day was a little boring, but who's isn't? I always hated the first day of school myself, simply because every class was the same. All you do is go over the lesson plans.**

**What were your top 3 favorite classes in High School? It doesn't matter what year you were, just in general.**

**Mine were my art classes like drawing, painting, and ceramics (I'm grouping them together), my English classes, and my science classes (although I didn't care for the dissection part of my anatomy class because unfortunately, instead of getting the fetal pigs, we ended up having to dissect cats. I guess my school switches between them every other year. And I'm a big cat lover. So that sucked.)**

**See you later!**


	25. A Welcome Surprise

**A/N: Hey, everyone! I want to thank all of you again for the reviews. It means a lot to me that people are enjoying my story.**

**Now on to the story.**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns **_**Twilight**_**.**

**Chapter 25 - A Welcome Surprise**

**BPOV**

I opened the door and walked inside, finding the house to be dark and far too quiet, considering the number of cars in the driveway.

I felt like I was in a bad horror movie, the kind where some unsuspecting girl walks into a quiet house only to have some scary person jump out at her.

I sighed to myself. Well, at least I had some idea of who might jump out at me.

I carefully made my way to the kitchen, and just when I turned on the light, multiple voices yelled, "Surprise!"

I jumped and nearly dropped the bags of groceries I was carrying.

After glancing around the room and seeing my dad, all of the Cullens, and Rose, my eyes landed on the last person I expected to see here.

My mother.

I quickly set down the bags and ran over to her, and threw my arms around her.

"Oh, my gosh! What are you doing here, Mom? And where is Phil?"

My mom gave me a small squeeze and answered, "To answer your first question, I'm here to see you on your first day of teaching. It's a very important day and I didn't want to miss it." She let go of me and stepped back, smiling. "As for your second question, Phil should be here any minute. He wanted to drive up here, and I wanted to fly, so that's what we did."

"How did you get here from the airport? Did you drive a rental?" I asked.

She shook her head. "No, I didn't get a rental car. I called Rose yesterday and told her what we were up to and she and her boyfriend came out to get me."

I turned around to face Rose and Emmett. "Boyfriend, huh? I thought you two weren't ready to put a label on whatever it is you guys have going on?" I questioned with a grin.

Rose shrugged her shoulders. "We changed our minds. We're officially together," she said casually.

I narrowed my eyes at them. "We _will _be talking about this little revelation at another time, but for now, I've got other things to think about." I turned and greeted the rest of the Cullens and then asked everyone to please wait in the living room while I excused myself to go put the groceries away.

"Would you like some help?" a velvety voice asked.

I gave Edward a small smile and said, "Sure."

It took a few minutes to put things away because I kept having to show Edward where things went, but I didn't mind. We had both had a good day and had gotten along, and I didn't want to ruin it by getting mad at him over something stupid.

Once we had finished up, we walked to the living room, and just as we entered, we all heard a car pull up into the driveway and honk the horn.

At the sound, Rose stood up and ran over to the window, her eyes wide and full of disbelief. Before anyone else could react to her bizzare behavior, she was running out the door like a maniac, squealing like a kid on Christmas.

After the rest of us had made it out the door, we found out why.

Phil was standing with Rose clinging to him, right next to her Cherry Red BMW M3 Convertable.

We all walked over to them after she had let go of him, to find out what was going on.

"I must be dreaming, because there's no way my car is really here," she said in awe.

"You're not dreaming, Rose. It's really here," replied Phil.

She turned and looked at him. "But how did you get from my house?"

With a smile he told her how I had mentioned that she was living here with me, and that she had been thinking about moving here for good, and how she wished she had her car here. When my mom wanted to come here to surprise me, he suggested bringing Rose's car up here while they were at it. So, he did. Phil called Rose's parents and got their permission to go get it from their house and drove it up here for her as a surprise.

By the time he was done explaining things to her, she had tears in her eyes. She hugged him and my mom and thanked them over and over again.

"I really appreciate you doing this, but why?" she asked them.

My mom smiled at her and said, "Rose, we've thought of you as a daughter ever since you and Bella became friends. You practically lived in our house with us. We just wanted to do something nice for you because that's what family does."

"Bella might have been the reason we came up here for a visit, but we weren't going to neglect you either. Like Renee said, you're family. Just do me a favor and promise me you'll continue to keep it in top condition, okay?" Phil chimed in.

Rose nodded. "Of course I'll keep it in good condition. This car is my baby. So, thank you again. For everything."

After a few more thank you's from Rose, and an introduction from Phil, we continued on with our planned celebration, but with a few more people than we originally planned on having.

We had a lot of fun. We ordered a few pizzas, played some board games, chatted, and just overall had a good time.

My mom and Phil were going to be staying for a few more days, so Rose and I were looking forward to that.

At first.

For whatever reason, my mom became convinced that Edward and I would make the cutest couple, and in her own words, 'would do everything she could to get us together.'

And as for Rose's newly found unhappiness, Phil has decided that as Rose's 'adoptive' father, it's his job to get to know her boyfriend and make sure he's good enough to be with her.

Charlie found all of this amusing, while Esme was on my mother's side, and Carlisle...well, I had no idea what he thought of all of this, but after he tried to help me out at the famly dinner, I had a feeling that if I needed his help with anything, he'd try.

Only time will tell if I'll end up needing it.

**A/N: So what did you think? Good? Bad? Okay?**

**I got a little stuck while writing this chapter, so I really hope it turned out alright.**

**Also, Happy Veteran's Day. If you know a veteran, or someone still in the military, thank them for all they are doing or have done for their country. I'm not sure if it's just a holiday celebrated in America, but even so, EVERY person who serves in a military should be thanked. My younger brother is a US Marine, so I'm dedicating this little note to him and all of his Marine brother's. Semper Fi.**

**On another note, I'm a big fan of Supernatural, and tonight is the 200th episode and it's called Fan Fiction. I think its supposed to be a musical. I can't wait! :)**

**See you soon!**


	26. The Plan

**A/N: Hi, everyone! As always, thank you for the fantastic reviews. We are just 14 shy of 350! I never thought this story would get so many when I started writing it. :)**

**So, did anyone watch the Hollywood Film Awards, Friday night? I did. As much as I love Robert Pattinson, I think his new haircut needs to go. I wonder if he was drunk when he got it. haha. **

**Speaking of being drunk, what was up with Johnny Depp? He was so wasted when he got on stage. While I found it kind of funny, I was also slightly disappointed. I just don't think that kind of behavior is acceptable for an event like that. **

**Okay, enough rambling from me. Let's get to the story.**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns **_**Twilight**_**.**

**Chapter 26 - The Plan**

**BPOV**

Its been two days since my mother and Phil showed up in Forks.

And some of us were ready for them to go back to Florida.

And by some of us, I mean Rose, Emmett, and myself.

Don't get me wrong, it's great to see them, but they are driving us crazy.

Rose is irritated with Phil and my father because he took the whole 'getting to know the boyfriend' thing to a whole new level. Despite not being related at all, Phil has honestly been more of a father to her than her own since we met. Yesterday, I guess he and my dad got to talking about whatever, and thought it would be funny to take Emmett to the shooting range to 'bond'. Basically, they tried to scare him and threatened to come after him if he hurt Rose in any way.

When Rose found out, she was pissed, but at the same time she was touched by what they did. Her own father never did anything like that for her, so when she told me what happened, she said it was like she gained two fathers that day.

Meanwhile, my mother and Esme have been trying to play matchmaker with Edward and I. They keep showing up at the school to 'have lunch with us'.

It was during one of these lunches, that an idea hit me to get our moms off our backs.

They couldn't force us to be together if one of us was already taken.

After school let out that day, I went straight home and dialed Riley's number. I hadn't seen him since the night we met, but we have spoken on the phone a lot. I have to admit, as much as I like him, I can't really see myself having any romantic feelings for him. I told him that in one of our conversations, and he admitted he kind of felt the same way, but since we haven't had a chance to spend much time together in person, he was willing to wait and see if the friendship we had developed could lead to something more, and if it doesn't, he wouldn't push it.

I hope he'd be willing and able to help me out.

After it rang a few times, he finally answered. "Hey there, Beautiful. What's up?"

I sighed. "A lot. Although, the biggest problem I have right now is my meddlesome mother trying to set me up with my ex-best friend."

"That sucks. Wanna talk about it?"

"Not really, but it's kind of the reason I called you."

"And why is that?" he asked curiously.

"Well...I kind of need a favor," I replied hesitantly, unsure of how he would respond.

"What kind of favor?" he questioned warily.

"Well, like I said, my mom is trying to play matchmaker while she's in town, but I thought that if she learns I have a boyfriend already, then maybe she'll let it go." I sighed. "So, would you be willing to be my pretend boyfriend for a week?"

He was silent for a moment, and I held my breath waiting for him to answer.

"I suppose I could do that for you, but what's in it for me?" he asked playfully.

"Hold on. Let me think for a minute...oh, I know! I can get Emmett to give you a few days of paid leave from work. Plus, you'd get to enjoy my company for a few days. How does that sound?"

"Sounds good. You've got yourself a deal. When do you need me to show up?"

"I'll give Emmett a call real quick and let him know what's up, and as soon as he says 'yes' I'll call you back and let you know."

"Alright. I'll be waiting for your call. Talk to you later, Beautiful."

"Bye." We both hung up and I called Emmett right away. He understood that my relationship with Edward was still rocky, and that our mother's were doing more harm than good, so he thought my idea was a good one, and he agreed to give Riley some time off of work to do this. He even offered to let Riley stay at his place while he was here.

I called Riley back and told him what Emmett had said, and how he had offered to let him stay with him during his stay. I gave Riley directions to both Emmett's house, and mine, and told him he could come here as soon as he was able to. He told me that he could be here in about 2 hours depending on how long it would take for him to pack some things and traffic.

After we hung up again, I gave Edward a call to let him know what was going on so he wouldn't be caught off guard when I planned to introduce Riley as my boyfriend to my mom and Esme, as well as my dad and Phil.

Then, I had to explain everything to Rose. She thought the whole situation was funny. She was especially looking forward to my dad's reaction when he learns I have a 'boyfriend'.

I wasn't too worried about how Phil would react since he had experience with me having a boyfriend in college, but Charlie never had to deal with that sort of thing with me before, since I was basically a loser at that time, and guys weren't into me at all.

This was going to be an interesting experience for everyone.

That's for sure.

**A/N: What do you think of Bella's plan? Will it blow up in her face, or go as planned?**

**Sorry it's kind of a short chapter. I haven't felt too good this week, but I'm feeling better now. Well, for the most part anyways. It's really, really cold in Chicago right now, and my apartment is really drafty, and doesn't heat up very well. So that sucks. I was actually wearing my jacket over a sweater inside my apartment. Plus, it started snowing here the other day. As much as I love winter festivities, I hate the snow.**

**So, have you ever had a friend pretend to be your boyfriend/girlfriend?**

**I haven't, but both of my ex-boyfriend's had been my good friend's first. Obviously, both relationships didn't work. The first one dumped me for a guy (there were no hard feelings about it though) and the second one, while he was really sweet and I cared about him, I just couldn't see myself being with him in the future.**

**Oh well. **

**See you soon!**


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